More Than Anyone Else
by EspeciallyQuick
Summary: AU set after "Naked" (4x12). Quinn hasn't seen her daughter for more than a year, what happens when she decides to change that? Quinn/Beth/Puck story. Also friendships! (Chapter 14 is up)
1. 39, West 88th Street

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

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The sun was slowly fading away in NYC and Santana had already left about an hour ago, leaving Kurt, Rachel and Quinn finishing their cups of coffee in a kind of sunday evening nostalgic tone. When Quinn noticed the time on the clock, she figured it was time for her to leave as well. It was not too late yet, but she still had a long way to New Haven. She discretely ran her hands along her waist, making sure her dress fitted properly as she stood up from the kitchen table, quickly followed by her friends. Kurt hugged her goodbye and ran off to his room, mumbling about how he still had an outfit to choose for his night out.

Quinn grabbed her coat that was laying on the couch and held it on her forearm as she faced Rachel and locked eyes with her. She had had such a great week-end, reconnecting with her friends that she couldn't find it in her heart to leave. Even though she loved life at Yale and had found a few nice people over there, she had never seen in them the shadow of her past years at McKinley, and it brought tears to her eyes everytime she thought about how she will never be able to have that again.

"Thank you so much for coming, it was so much fun!" Rachel exclaimed, sporting the biggest smile on her face as she took each of Quinn's hands in hers. "And thank you for keeping me from doing that nude scene, I don't know what I was thinking but, I realize now how stupid it was so thank you." She gave Quinn a tight and sincere hug, something that definitely still felt weird to her - but in a good way.

"Talking about doing something stupid..." Quinn confessed, breaking the embrace. "I have a favor to ask you." Rachel looked at her with the gravest expression, waiting for her to spill it out. "I was wondering if you could maybe give me Shelby's address. She still lives in New York, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she does." The brunette admitted, still confused about what her friend could possibly be planning this time.

"Look, I did some terrible things last year and it's killing me. I need to apologize to her, so since I'm here I thought I'd stop by before going home."

Rachel turned around and headed to the living room coffee table where she found a piece of paper and a pen, and started scribbling something on it. She made her way back to Quinn and handed the note to her, conceding that it was actually a great idea and that Shelby would be glad to see her again. Quinn wasn't too sure about that though, they hadn't left things in a good place the year before, but she had to try.

She didn't want to apologize in order to see Beth again, she wanted to do it because she truly felt horrible for what she had said to Shelby. She had always liked the woman. She could still perfectly remember the first time she had seen her, when they sneaked in the Vocal Adrenaline rehearsals during their sophomore year of High School. She remembered how struck she felt by her presence, like she owned some kind of magic strength that could hypnotize you for a second and make you feel like everything was right in the world. And to this day, the sound of her surprisingly beautiful singing voice was still wandering in her head, especially on those many lonely nights she had spent crying herself to sleep. So yes, she needed to make things right with her again, but mostly because she was grateful that she, of all people, was the one taking care of her daughter.

The taxi ride to Shelby's place was one of the most nerve-wracking moment Quinn had ever experienced so far, and for a girl who had it bad like her during her high school years, that was saying something. The taxi driver finally dropped her in a nice and pretty calm part of the Upper West Side, and indicated her one of the many similar doors that were aligned on the sidewalk. She climbed the door steps, noticing the few green plants that were located on the porch and got the piece of paper with the address out of the pocket of her blue trench coat, giving it a last look to make sure she was at the right place. She took a last deep breath while she stared at the golden number in front of her, and finally raised her arm to knock on the door.

That was it. She'd done it. Now what? She couldn't possibly tell how long she waited there, because in her mind it felt like centuries. Or at least enough time to see her whole life unfolding before her eyes, like she was about to die or something, and even came to the point where she wondered what she was thinking about when she decided to do this in the first place. Her heart was pounding in her chest, so hard that it was almost keeping her from breathing, and she'd sworn it had completely stopped beating when she found herself face to face with Shelby for the first time since her senior year. Too late. No chance of turning back now. But she could do it, she had faced tougher situations than that before, the only difference was that this time - and maybe for the first time - she was really, deep down inside, hoping that things would work out the way she wanted. But she considered that not having prepared anything to say was pretty much a bad start at it. Shelby's eyes grew wide when she opened the door and caught sight of the blond girl standing in front of her. She didn't look that happy, but she didn't look mad either.

"Quinn." She gasped at last.

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So do you think I should continue? :)

I have some ideas about what's gonna happen next but if you have any suggestions I'd be more than happy to take them. Also I apologize for the grammar mistakes, as english is not my first language...


	2. Oh the fear

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

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"Quinn. What are you doing here?"

It took a moment before the young girl could actually get a word out of her mouth. Her brain wouldn't shut up about a bunch of irrelevant things, but in the same time couldn't come up with anything that would answer Shelby's question.

"Can we, uhm... talk outside?" She finally muttered.

Shelby gave a look into the apartment over her shoulder and carefully closed the door before joining her on the porch. She figured that Quinn wanted to stay away from Beth, but she didn't understand why. "What's wrong Quinn? And how on earth did you find me?" She questioned again, hoping that this time she would get an answer.

"Rachel told me..." Quinn began with as she tried to hide her obvious nervousness. "Look, the truth is I'm here to tell you that... I'm sorry. For everything that happened last year, I was completely over my head and I'm really, really sorry for that. I wanted you to know that, and it was not something that I could do on the phone or anything."

Shelby was silent, her arms crossed over her chest as she kept observing her, but a faint smile had gained her face.

"You didn't deserve it." Quinn continued. "I'm so glad that Beth has you as her mother and to model herself after. The fact is I couldn't have thought of a better person than you."

That was it, Shelby's smile grew larger, she was feeling the honesty and the emotion behind Quinn's words. And not only was she flattered to hear what Quinn was thinking of her, but mostly, she - for the first time - recognized the girl she had met at the hospital that night after Regionals. The girl who was willing to sacrifice a piece of herself to make sure that her daughter had a good life, even if that meant spending _her_ life miserable, knowing that she will never be able to hear her first words, see her first steps, or be the one who gives her magic kisses when she'd get hurt. That girl was the one Shelby expected to come home to when she returned to Lima, but instead she had found herself with the most disordered teenage girl you could possibly imagine, and damn it felt so good to have her back.

"So thank you." Quinn added, as if she needed to say anything else. "For taking such a good care of her, and for everything." But that was the most important part, for the last couple of years that was all she really wanted Shelby to know but never had a chance to say.

"You're welcome." Shelby finally spoke out, still smiling at the young girl. "And you know, I blame myself for last year, too. I mean, I should have checked on you before blowing in your life like that. If I had I would've known that you were in trouble and that would have saved us from all the drama." She chuckled.

Quinn quickly nodded, looking down, slightly relieved as she felt the discomfort wearing off.

"Anyway, I appreciate you coming here. I really didn't expect it."

"Yeah well, I should probably go now, it's getting late." Quinn announced as she slipped her hands in the pockets of her trench, about to say goodbye.

"Quinn, wait." The older woman objected. "Don't you want to see her?"

What. Quinn's face went from relief to distress in the blink of an eye. She hadn't planned to see her that night, she wasn't prepared _at all_. No, she couldn't do it, not yet.

"Uhm, I don't think so actually..." She mumbled as Shelby's eyebrows raised in disbelief of what was happening.

"She's right here you know..." She stated, pointing her hand towards the front door.

"I know but it's just... too soon, ok? Maybe another time." The blond said before turning around to leave.

"Quinn! Hey!" Shelby called out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back on the porch right in front of her. She locked eyes with her, her hands now getting a hold of both of Quinn's arms and shaking her a little. "You can do it. I know you want to, so come inside with me."

Quinn wasn't looking at her, she was scared and tears were taking over her eyes.

"Hey stop, look at me." Shelby ordered, revealing once again her bossy ways that Quinn had become common with. "You do not get to back down. Not now."

"I can't do it!" Quinn yelled practically out of her lungs, placing her hand over her pretty pale face.

"You wanna know something Quinn? I think that you're just a scared little girl." The woman challenged her. "You don't know the first thing about what you want and if you keep denying everything that goes wrong in your life, you'll end up hating yourself even more than you already do." She took a moment to let her process these last words and gave her a defiant look before returning to her sweet motherly tone. "Come on, you've done the hard part. And I won't let you run away, not this time."

Shelby had now let go of Quinn and was staring at her, still trying to make sense out of the situation. The truth is she wouldn't have pushed her that hard if she was sure to see her again, but since she had no idea of what the young girl would do, she had to make her stay, even if it meant sounding harsh and insensitive like that.

"What if I become crazy again? Aren't you worried about that?" She questioned, insecurity showing in her voice. So that's what it was all about.

"No, I'm not, actually." Shelby replied. And she meant it, now that she knew that Quinn had put her life back together and gotten into Yale - she kept informed via Rachel, even if she'd made her promise to never tell - she really wanted to give her a chance to be a part of Beth's life, which she didn't think would be that hard. "Alright?" She tried one more time.

Quinn took a deep breath before giving her a wary nod as an agreement and followed her towards the door.

"Wait, what if she hates me?" She asked, remembering how Beth was crying the last time she'd tried to hold her.

"She won't. You're her mother Quinn, she loves you already."

The word _mother_ caused Quinn to flinch a little. It was the first time someone ever referred to her as that - except for Santana but it was always in order to mock her - and she was not sure of how she felt about it. It made her feel old, that's for sure, but most of all it made her feel empty, reminding her of everything she'd lost. Hopefully Shelby will let her the chance to regain those missing parts of her, but for now she had to focus on not letting her dreams get in the way of her sanity. The brunette opened the front door and Quinn's heart began to race again. She really needed to work on her self control, but that's not everyday that you get to see your child again.

"I'm here, honey!" Shelby announced, changing her voice to baby mode to excuse to Beth for her absence.

Quinn bit her lower lip as her eyes frantically wandered around the living room trying to find her. And when she finally caught sight of her, sitting in a corner in the midst of her toys, she was finally able to breathe again.

She hadn't gotten crazy or anything, nothing had changed. Well, except her growing love for her.

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What did you guys think? I had so much fun writing it, I really hope you liked it!

So do you think we will or do you want to see Beth next chapter? :)


	3. In my daughter's eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

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_"She's so small. And pretty." Quinn thought as she watched the little girl huddled up in her arms, peacefully sleeping against her chest. She had been like this for half an hour, one of her hands sprawled upon Quinn's breast, gently and almost unnoticeably squeezing it. She was making weird but cute sounds with her tongue, which made Quinn smile. It wasn't the only thing about her baby that made her smile, but it was certainly the only thing that kept her from crying her heart out. She brought her hand near Beth's face, and softly stroked her pink cheek with the back of her index finger. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to leave her._

_When Puck came back into her hospital room, she knew it was time to let her go. All they had was a few more minutes, all three of them and maybe a few withheld tears. Puck said goodbye to his daughter, as she decided to graciously open her eyes - Quinn's eyes - for him. Quinn was sitting on the edge of the bed, unable to really make a move when he settled Beth back in her arms. She lifted the little girl closer to her face, and at this point Puck simply stopped watching._

_"Be good, ok?" Quinn said, looking right into Beth's beautiful eyes before bringing her lips close enough to brush her forehead and give it a sweet peck. "I love you." She whispered almost inaudibly against her skin before definitely drawing back._

"Baby, look who came to see you!" Shelby announced as she kneeled down at Beth's level.

That wasn't true, Quinn hadn't come to see her. And thinking about it made her feel even worse than she already was. She was kind of terrified, to the point where she couldn't move from the lobby and Shelby had to gesture for her to come closer.

"It's Quinn!" She continued. "Do you remember her?"

Beth was sitting on the floor, playing with wooden bricks. She was cute as ever in her light pink PJ's and had grown a little but definitely still looked like a baby. She stared at Quinn as soon as she noticed her and was sporting the sassiest look, one eyebrow raised - Quinn Fabray style. Actually, she mastered it even better than her. There she was, not three years old yet and making Quinn freakin' Fabray, HBIC, question her entire existence by a simple look. She observed her for a while, from head to toes and right back up, several times, trying to spot something that might have made her appealing.

"You do remember, right?" Shelby laughed, running her hand in Beth's blond little curls.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure..." Quinn answered. "If she did, she wouldn't be looking at me like this." Not certain if that made her laugh or freak out most.

"No, she's just wondering where you've been all this time!" Shelby joked, causing Quinn to give her a flustered glance right away.

"Sorry. Too soon?" The woman immediately apologized. Quinn nodded, obviously not offended. After all, she was right.

Meanwhile Beth had returned to her occupation, not caring that much about Quinn being there, or her mother talking to her. She was trying to build something with her bricks but it didn't go over so well, so Quinn seized the chance to break the ice and went to sit right in front of her.

"Hey, let me help you with that..." She comforted the little girl.

Beth gave her one more ballsy look that lasted a few seconds, just enough for Quinn to sink into her beautiful hazel eyes and fall in love all over again. She had always thought that she had managed to get past her daughter, but looking at her like this, the exact same way she had after she was born, made all of that hard work get lost in a second. But it was worth it.

All the feelings came back even stronger, feelings that she thought buried deep down into her mind, that were in fact just dying to get out. Now she didn't have to chase them away anymore, and the burden she had carried with her for all these years magically vanished, far away from the perfection of the moment.

The exchange finally stopped when Beth, as a sign of approval, grabbed a wooden block from her stack and handed it to Quinn. When she stretched her arm to take it, her hand suddenly landed around Beth's, that she gently stroked with her thumb. The little girl stopped in her movement, her eyes stuck on Quinn's hand, not sure of what was going on or how she was feeling about it. But she had to like it because she didn't pull away, and seemed pretty at ease.

They went on and eventually managed to build a fort with the bricks. When Quinn announced that they were done, Beth finally let a smile arose on her face, it was exactly like Puck's. It was the first time that Quinn ever saw her smile, and she could feel fulfillment take over her, and wished the little girl would never stop. Shelby was in awe before them, probably because of the easiness in every of their move, as if the laws of science bonded them way further than the strangers they really were. In every instance, they definitely made it look like they were meant to be together. Beth walked up to her mom and babbled something to her that you could only understand with years of training. Shelby lifted her up from the ground, still in shock that she had even let Quinn get that far with her. The young girl stood up as well as she got closer to them.

"Do you want to hold her?" Shelby inquired, really wanting them to familiarize.

Beth let herself slide into Quinn's arms without putting up any resistance and observed her some more. She was feeling Quinn's face with her little fingers and without any concern, letting them glide all the way down into her mouth where she played with her lower lip after a serious inspection of what happened inside. Then she gently rested her head against Quinn's, letting her tighten the embrace and feel her tiny heart beating against her own. They sat on the couch, Beth straddling Quinn's lap and playing with her long and blond strands.

"She's not used to it." Shelby laughed, pointing towards Quinn's hair. "I mean, the whole blond thing." She explained as she sat by the piano. Beth had already moved on to Quinn's golden necklace, admiring with wide eyes the sparkle of the pendant laying into her tiny palm.

"I'm not sure your mom would let you have one of those." Quinn announced, making a face as an attempt to make Beth smile again. Shelby raised her head from the paper she was reading to see what Quinn was talking about and noticed the golden cross in Beth's hand. She chuckled, and then proceeded to realize that she had never asked Quinn if she was fine with Beth not being christian.

"Well, Puck is jewish you know." She reassured the older woman. "And no, I don't mind if she's not brought up christian like me. My whole family is, and we're not a shining example." She confessed, wistfulness showing in her tone. The little girl was still sitting astride of her, carefully studying every word she said, every change in her features. "I know that she's happy and safe with you, and that's all that matters."

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I'm sorry I know it sucks but I had so much trouble with that chapter, it wouldn't turn out right no matter how many times I rewrote it, so I don't like it but I had to update the story eventually.

I promise next chapter is better :)


	4. One step closer

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

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It was a cold but beautiful end of winter morning in New Haven, the sun rays were seeping through the trees, without any hint of clouds to keep them from illuminate the entire city. Quinn was striding along the streets, fighting the wind that was harshly blowing her hair. No matter the weather, she would never give up on sporting girly sundresses, it was what felt most like her. God she regretted those days when she used to wear skank clothes during her senior year, sure it was sexy and all sometimes, but she had never understood what had happened to her fashion sense back then.

She entered a really luxurious jewelry store, with bright lights and modern settings, the kind of place where you don't feel that comfortable if you're not used to it. She was diligently looking at the pieces through the glass, trying to find what she'd come for, when a seller approached her to see if she needed some help.

"I was wondering if you had any letter pendants, simple but classy." She asked, figuring that considering the place they probably had anything one could possibly ask for.

The young man told her to follow him to the counter where he pulled out an enormous case containing every single letter, in every possible shape and color. When Quinn's eyes set on a old-fashioned golden one, she knew it was exactly what she needed. It was also one of the most expensive, but it was perfect. Once she had paid for it and a beautiful chain to hang it on, she left the place and headed home. She was at her doorstep when her phone rang, and she was pleasantly surprised at the name appearing on her screen.

"Hi Rach." She answered. "Haven't heard from you in a while." She commented, sad to think that their friendship had turned so virtual, and that it'd been almost two months since she had last seen her.

"Well you know, my porn star schedule keeps me pretty busy." The brunette replied, leaving a blank in the conversation. "That was a joke." She added, as if they were actually any doubts about it.

"I know." Quinn assured her, not so much realizing what was funny about it, thinking that if she hadn't gotten her ass in New York earlier this year that's what would have probably happened. "Anyway, what's going on?" She continued on a lighter tone.

"Well, I have a break from dance classes for three days so I have some free time to call. I've been super overworked these past few weeks and I never even knew how it went with Shelby!"

"It was fine, she's not mad at me so I guess that's good, right?"

"It's great, I told you she wouldn't be. Did you get to see Beth?" Rachel asked, curious to learn about what her friend was up to recently. She hadn't had the time to talk to Shelby either, so she was completely unaware of the situation for once.

"Yeah! Yeah, I did... Ok, I need to tell you something." She confessed to her friend. "You know how Beth's birthday is next week, right?"

Rachel confirmed right away, how could she forget those Regionals. Everything about that day was going down in history, from Bohemian Rhapsody to Quinn going into labour by Finn and her getting back together.

"So I just bought a present for her but I don't know if I should give it to her." Quinn admitted, starting to go back on her decision.

"Well, unless it's a baby Botox kit or a gun, I don't see any reasons why you shouldn't give her." Rachel joked.

"Oh god, how did you know about that?!" Quinn asked, feeling embarrassment win her over. "No, of course you knew, everyone must know about it. Jeez, why was I so stupid."

"Look, all I'm saying is that you should definitely make sure she gets it. I'm sure that it will be great whatever it is, and that she will love it. Especially if it comes from you." The brunette reassured her. "Trust me, I would have loved to have something to remember Shelby by when I was a kid."

"Thanks Rachel. Oh I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later ok?" She hung up and hurried out of her dorm room so that she could arrive to her english class on time. It was her favorite subject, she loved the power of words and the effect they could have on someone if they were chosen correctly. All she wanted was to someday be able to write her own stuff, whether it was for her or to share with the world. She really loved drama as well, but she didn't find it as empowering though, she preferred expressing her own feelings with her own words.

Late that night, she was pulled out of bed by the urge to finalize the decision she'd just made. She cut a piece of the pink ribbon she had bought, and lovingly made a bow around the box containing the necklace. She added a note to it, in her most meticulous handwriting, a note on which she dropped a soft kiss before finally falling asleep, feeling much lighter than before.

It was March 20th, and Beth's third birthday had finally arrived. Shelby gave her her presents when she woke up in the morning, and picked her up from preschool at the end of the day. She brought her to her favorite ice-cream shop in New York to celebrate, and the little girl was so happy about it. She loved spending so much time with her mom. Once they got home, Shelby found a little package in her mail box. She opened it and first came upon a piece of paper.

_To Beth, with love._

_Happy birthday_

_- Quinn_

"Look baby, you have another present!" She said, handing her the little box so that she could open it. Beth cautiously took it in her little hands and played with the ribbon before finally unwrapping it. Her mouth opened with astonishment when she discovered the shining 'B' that was laying upon its cushion. Shelby gently took it out of the box and fastened it around Beth's tiny neck, taking a second to admire how cute she looked. She quickly snapped a picture with her phone and sent it to Quinn, assuming that she would appreciate to have that view as well.

_She wears it with oh so much pride._ _Looks perfect on her, thank you!_

Quinn was so pleased at the photo. She kept staring at it all evening long, never weary to look at her little girl. She knew she would love the necklace, she remembered how amazed she was when she had seen hers. It had nothing to do with vanity or wanting Beth to walk around with a piece of her, she simply wanted to do something that would make her happy for once.

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So what do you think? :)

Next chapter Quinn and Beth will maybe spend some time together... ;)


	5. What doesn't kill you

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

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Two weeks later, on a beautiful morning of early spring, a perhaps a little hangover Quinn was peacefully sleeping in the wrong direction of her bed. She'd gone out for a drink with her friends the night before, and they ended up at a giant party hosted by some other Yale students on campus. It was her first real party since she'd gotten there, and maybe they'd gone a little too far. She had barely taken her clothes off before going to sleep, well she had tried to, but some of them were still on, while the rest of it was laying on the floor, all the way from the door to her bed. She was awakened by her phone, which was nowhere to be seen among all of this mess. When she finally found it, hiding under a curious straw hat with flowers attached to it, the light of the screen punched her in the face. Her first concern was the time, she was exhausted and was lacking the courage to stay up on her feet.

7:49. _What the hell._

She sat back on her bed and rubbed the spoiled mascara off the eyes that she struggled to keep open. She had a text, but couldn't manage to read anything at this point until she perceived Shelby's name on her screen. She wanted to know if Quinn was up for an afternoon in the park the next day, an invitation that the young girl joyfully accepted. She hadn't seen Beth since the night she'd gone to talk to Shelby, but it was something she had strongly wished for over the last couple of months. The idea got her so excited that she suddenly felt as if she was sober again, as if nothing ever happened the night before. Except the heavy headache and the smell of alcohol on her body. She immediately took a shower to get rid of the awful scent and the sleepless night she'd gotten, swearing that it was the first and last time it would happen and spent the rest of the day longing to travel back to New York.

She went to Shelby's house the next day, and the three of them headed to Central Park under an overcast greyish sky. It was Quinn's first time out with Beth and while the little girl wasn't particularly noticing anything different from any other day, Quinn on the hand was thrilled at the idea of finally spending time with her daughter. After all, she didn't know the first thing about her and couldn't wait to see how she had turned out.

"You should hold Quinn's hand, honey." Shelby recommended as they crossed the last street before the park. She actually didn't need any help, she was used to walk Beth by herself but she wanted Quinn to be involved and Beth to feel safe and comfortable with her.

There was not a lot of people on the playground, or in the park for that matter. A few elderly couples and some joggers, maybe a man teaching his kid how to ride a bike, but other than that they were pretty much alone. They spent a moment helping Beth on the swing, Shelby pushing her in the back and Quinn catching her legs from the front. The little girl's laugh covered the slight birds songs, her hazel eyes overflowing with joy. After a while, Shelby and Quinn let her play by herself and went to sit on a bench.

"I thought I would have seen you sooner." The woman stated.

"I know, I just- I've been busy. Lots of... work." Quinn answered, still staring at Beth from afar.

"How is it going?" Shelby asked, smiling at the idea to hear about the young girl's college adventures.

"Everything's good, you know. Harder than I thought, but good." She answered, a bit uncomfortable talking about her everyday life with a woman she actually barely even knew.

"You don't have to be nervous with me." Shelby joked as Quinn finally looked at her and tried to relax a little. "I don't judge you, you know? I know it must be hard and confusing for you but considering what we already went through, maybe we can skip the whole nervous part, don't you think?"

"Right... Well, if we're being honest, I really did have a lot of work, but maybe I also didn't know how to reach out to you."

"I get it, don't worry. But look, you're welcome to visit whenever you feel like it, ok? And no, of course I don't mean you being here 24/7" she chuckled, "but when you want to see her, it works for me. So you don't hesitate from now on, promise?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Good. Now let's see what this one is up to." Shelby suggested, rolling her eyes in amusement after seeing Beth leant over the grass and trying to catch something.

When she saw her mother walking up to her, Beth stood up and lifted her hand so that Shelby could see the ladybug standing on it. "Look, mama." She proudly announced.

"That's amazing, honey." The woman commented just before her ring phone broke through the quietness. She stepped aside to answer, leaving Quinn and Beth alone while they intently examined the insect.

Shelby came back no more than a few seconds later, looking a bit bothered. "I'm sorry I have to go to my office for a minute, I forgot to sign some papers yesterday. Can you stay with her for a while?"

"Yeah, sure. Do your things, we'll be fine here."

"Great. I'll be back within twenty minutes, don't worry." She stated before running off the playground.

Beth didn't seem that troubled to see her mom leave. She came closer to Quinn and set the ladybug in her palm, smiling at her before climbing upon the slide.

"You catch me." She tasked Quinn as she stood on top of it, ready to go down.

"Oh ok, I'll try, chief." She replied, laughing at the little girl's authority.

The game lasted a few minutes, the toddler laughing more and more each time and Quinn never tired of hearing her voice burst into the stillness of the park. It was better than heaven and Quinn felt Beth's laugh filling the emptiness in her heart; it was exactly what she had always wanted without even knowing it. Nothing had ever made her more complete than seeing Beth be happy, and she wondered how she could have imagined spending her life without even knowing her.

Beth sat down on top of the slide and started playing with her shoelaces. Happiness was wearing off of her face as she began to pout a little. "I'm tired."

"It's ok, you can rest a little." Quinn reassured her.

"When my mom coming?"

"Aren't you good with me? We're having fun. And look, there are other games you haven't tried yet." But the little girl didn't seem interested anymore so Quinn answered her question, kind of disappointed that she wasn't enough. "She'll be here in a few minutes, don't worry." She finally admitted, shaking her leg a little to comfort her. "So are you going to school tomorrow?" She tried to cheer her up; the last thing she wanted was for her to start crying.

Beth simply nodded, still on the fence with her.

"Yeah, I feel you buddy." Quinn continued, leaving Beth dubiously staring at her. "I have an idea, why don't you tell me what you want to do, and that way I can help you?"

After a moment of reflection, an idea suddenly came across Beth's mind and her face lit up a little. "Hide and seek?" She babbled.

"I'd rather not... because I'm gonna lose you, and your mom will be veeeery mad at me." Quinn joked, making Beth finally laugh. "How about... hopscotch? You know how to play?"

"Yeah."

Beth took the ladder to get off the slide but fell from it before reaching the ground. Quinn ran to get her in a hurry, but the little girl was already crying her heart out.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Quinn gasped, taking her in her arms. "Where does that hurt, Beth?" She shouted, panic taking over her as she watched the flow of tears streaming down Beth's pink cheeks. She didn't answer and continued crying even louder instead.

Quinn was scared to death and felt her heart beating faster and faster without ever coming to an end. She had never really taken care of young children before and had absolutely no idea of what she needed to do, and add the fact that it was her own daughter in her arms, everything became ten times terrifying.

Shelby arrived just in time and rushed toward them when she saw that Beth was crying, she knew something was wrong because it wasn't her usual mood cry.

"Quinn, what happened?" She inquired, taking the little girl from her.

"I-I don't know, she fell from the slide, she won't tell me anything. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Calm down, alright?" Shelby ordered without worrying too much. "Did she hit her head?"

"No. Maybe. God, I don't know."

The older woman examined Beth from head to toes while Quinn kept freaking out at the idea of her being hurt or scared for life or something. She really felt like she had screwed up big time. After a minute or two, Shelby noticed that Beth's hand shied away from any contact.

"I think it's her wrist, it's swollen." She announced. "We should go to the hospital, in case it's broken."

##########

"I'm so sorry..." Quinn apologized as they were sitting in the waiting room.

"It's not your fault, really. Kids fall sometimes, it doesn't mean that you're not taking good care of them."

"I know, but you trusted me and-"

"And I still do!" Shelby reassured her. "I know that you would do anything to keep her safe, but we're not super heroes, Quinn. All we can do is try our best but sometimes it's not enough and things like that happen. And will continue to happen, so learn how to deal with it and you'll be fine next time."

"So... does that mean you're going to leave her alone with me again?"

"Of course!" Shelby laughed. "It's new for you, but you'll figure it out."

"Mrs Corcoran?" A doctor asked as both of them stood up from their seats and practically ran to him.

"Don't worry, she simply sprained her wrist, nothing broke. If you'd like to follow me, the nurses must be done with her by now, she'll be ready to go home."

They arrived to Beth's room and caught sight of her through the the window blinds. She was silently sitting on the bed and observing one of the nurse's every move, kind of fascinated.

"You know what?" Shelby said, stopping right before her hand landed on the door handle and then turning around to face Quinn. "You should go in there by yourself, I'll join you in a bit."

Quinn hesitated for a second, not sure if it was a good idea. Maybe Beth didn't like her, maybe she would never feel safe around her and that was how their relationship was going to end before it even began. Anyways, she finally resolved to enter the room and carefully sat next to her daughter, searching for the right words.

"Does that hurt?" She asked, staring at her tiny bandage.

"A little."

"Beth, I'm sorry." She confessed as the little girl finally looked at her. "Do you think we could play together again sometimes?" She tried, not sure of what she would get.

"Finish hopscotch?" Beth asked in the cutest tone, making Quinn completely melt inside.

"Finish hopscotch." She promised, taking her in her arms and dropping a kiss on top of her blond little head. Beth returned the embrace and let herself loosen up at the sound of Quinn's heart under her ear. She felt safe and loved, and knew that she loved Quinn as well.

* * *

If you want something specific to happen you can still tell me and I'll see what I can do!

Hope you liked it, until next time guys :)


	6. I'll look after you

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

"Noooo, not blue!" Beth yelled in shock, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Beth, stay calm please." Shelby responded from the kitchen.

"But Quinn, rabbits are not blue!" She stated, her eyes still wide open.

"You colored yours green, you think that's better?" Quinn laughed at the little girl's sense of realism.

Beth glanced at her picture, trying to figure out a solution. "It's not finished." She reassured her. "His tail is pink."

"Oh, right... that solves everything, doesn't it?" Quinn mocked her, putting down her pencil as Shelby walked into the living room.

"Dinner's ready, girls." She announced, smiling at the scene. They were both sitting on the floor at the coffee table, pens and coloring spread all over it, and arguing about fake rabbits. "Come on baby, go wash your hands they're covered with felt pen. And I hope you didn't stain your PJ's again, missy!" She continued as the little girl ran to the kitchen sink.

They sat at the table for their first dinner together and Beth was very happy about it. She had talked about it all day long and couldn't sit still on her chair.

"Don't play with your fork, honey." Shelby recommended. "Don't you want to show Quinn how big you are?"

Beth glanced at Quinn and stopped moving. That argument really was valid because she stayed calm and silent for the rest of the dinner, but Quinn didn't need that to know that she was a very well educated kid. Sure she was a little agitated sometimes but she always managed to be cute and witty about it, and on top of that she was also very smart and polite.

"So have you told anyone that you were, you know... coming here?" Shelby asked, carefully choosing her words in front of Beth.

"No, not really."

"Not even your mother?"

"Especially not my mother." Quinn answered. Shelby stopped in her movement and gave her a inquiring look. "I don't know, I feel like if I tell her it's going to complicate everything." She admitted. "I love coming here, but if she knows about it she's going to meddle in, so it seems easier this way. Trust me, my family is something you'd rather run away from."

"Don't worry, I get it." The woman reassured her. "What about Puck? Do you guys keep in touch?"

Quinn felt her heart skip a beat just thinking about him, it had always been the effect it had on her and that day wasn't any different, even after almost a year being apart.

"I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving, actually. But I'm thinking about reaching out to him eventually, when the time comes you know." She explained.

"Who is duck?" Beth questioned, rigorously listening to every word of the conversation and feeling kind of thrilled at the idea of someone named like that. "Is he your boyfriend?" She asked, looking at Quinn right in the eyes and mostly right in the feels.

"Beth finish your plate." Her mother interfered, grabbing a fork to help her. The little girl opened her mouth to take in the spoonful Shelby was giving her, but still hadn't let go of Quinn's eyes and was obviously waiting for an answer.

"He's one of my friends, from school." She lied. "And he doesn't look like a duck yet, but he has a very strange haircut let me tell you that."

The thought of Puck's mohawk made everyone laugh for a while, until Beth got up and left the kitchen.

"Look at her, she's exhausted!" Shelby chuckled as they watched her stagger to the couch where she turned on the TV.

Quinn helped Shelby clean off the table and they took a cup of coffee together, taking advantage of Beth not listening to talk more seriously. After a moment, it was time for Beth to go to sleep and Shelby suggested that Quinn put her to bed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, she'd love it. And I'm right here if you need anything." They headed to living room to find Beth collapsed in front of the evening cartoons. "Honey, it's time to sleep." Shelby announced, sitting next to her. "And I think that Quinn wants to put you to bed tonight..."

Beth hopped off the couch out of excitement, the smile on her face was priceless. She hastily took the lead to her bedroom, hardly concerned to give her mother a goodnight kiss as she passed by. They were barely arrived that Beth jumped on her bed and plunged her head into the pillows.

Quinn was mesmerized by her room. It was painted in pale and darker pink and she had a whole part of a wall covered with a giant white board so that she could draw on it. There were a few kids books lying open on the floor waiting to be finished, a shelf filled with tons of other books, several toy boxes and a little desk in a corner. Right above it on the wall, Quinn noticed a bunch of pictures and took a moment to contemplate them. Most of them were of Beth doing stuff, at the zoo, in the snow or even baking.

Her eyes set on a gorgeous photo of her and Shelby at Disneyland, they both seemed so happy. Quinn was trying her best to fight the tears that were threatening to leak out; that was the moment it really hit her. Since Beth was born she had strived to convince herself that giving her up had been for the best, but she had never really found out a reason why. Now she finally had the proof right there in front of her, of all the things she couldn't have done for her. That realization made her genuinely happy, but she wished so hard she had been the one in that picture.

"So, are you ready?" She asked as she turned around and looked at Beth.

The little girl was already wrapped under her covers, preciously holding a plush lamb against her face, breathing in it and softly tickling his ear. Quinn immediately recognized the animal she had gifted her a year before when they moved back to Lima. It was a present from her own mother for her first birthday and even if she obviously hadn't used it when she was older, it had always stayed on her bed. And sometimes, when life was hard, she held it for a minute, remembering the time when everything was good and simple. So she wanted Beth to have it because even if she couldn't be there for her, she would've at least done one thing that could help her. But now that she was back into her life, it seemed like maybe she didn't have to worry about that anymore.

"What's his name?" She asked, pointing toward the stuffed animal.

"Loopy."

"That's nice. I like it." She sat next to her on her bed, painfully dismissing the thought to tell her about his previous life.

"Mommy sings to me before sleep." Beth stated, clearly wanting Quinn to respect the tradition.

"She does, huh?" She asked, marking the hope in her little girl's eyes.

Beth nodded and moved to the side of the bed, encouraging Quinn to come closer. She settled in her arms and rested her head against Quinn's breasts. "What do you sing?" She asked, still playing with her lamb which was also lying on Quinn's chest.

Quinn knew exactly what she was gonna sing, there was definitely a song that had always reminded her of Beth in so many ways. She was also sure to remember the lyrics because of the tremendous amount of time she had spent listening to it after leaving her.

"Don't make fun of me, ok? I don't sing like your mom you know." Quinn joked, making Beth laugh a little and snuggle even closer.

_If I don't say this now, I will surely break,_

_As I'm leaving the one I wanna take._

_Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait,_

_My heart is starting to separate._

_Oh oh oh, oh oh oh, be my baby, I'll look after you._

_There now steady love, so few come and don't go,_

_Will you won't you, be the one I'll always know._

_When I'm losing my control and the city spins around,_

_You're the only one who knows how to slow it down._

_Oh oh oh, oh oh oh, be my baby, I'll look after you._

Beth had fallen asleep, but Quinn stayed with her for a while, running her hand through her soft golden locks. Things were slowly falling into place and she wanted a few more minutes, or even hours, to relish the beauty of the moment; she couldn't resolve to leave.

She remembered when she was pregnant and used to spend every night rubbing her growing stomach until the restless little girl would stop moving. Sometimes it drove her completely insane, but overall it had always been the best part of her day. It was what hurt the most after having her, the sleepless nights filled with an emptiness that had took months to start fading away but had never really left her.

Getting to watch Beth sleep on her chest while listening to the sound of her breath was truly the first time she felt as if she had, for a brief instant, regained those missing parts. She knew she had already missed too much for that feeling to ever go away, and that she could never have her back, but at least she was there for her now. She got up carefully, doing her best not to wake her, and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Good night, baby."

* * *

If you want an idea of what the song might sound like sung by a (talented) girl : watch?v=3AwNJQF9Ocg

I love to hear what you think, so don't hesitate :)

Also I'm sorry if it goes pretty slow between them, but I don't want it to be too cheesy.


	7. Two is better than one

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

"Oh shit." Quinn grumbled, desperately trying to apply her mascara in spite of her shakings.

Since the day before when Shelby had asked her to come to her office, she had not been able to take at least one normal breath. She didn't know what Shelby could possibly want to talk about, but it sure wasn't gonna be pretty if she needed to meet her at work.

She had looked over all the times she had seen Beth, and aside the little accident in the park a month and a half ago, she really had no idea of what she might have done wrong. At this point it wasn't so much about being nervous, she was mostly afraid that Shelby might change her mind about her spending time with Beth. She tried to keep the idea out of her mind for as long as she could, but it was simply too much to handle.

She hurried out of her dorm room and took the metro to New York, getting more anxious by the second, and arrived almost an hour earlier than she was supposed to.

"Mrs Corcoran," the young PA called out as he opened her door "Quinn Fabray's here."

"Tell her she can come in. And I don't want to be disturbed, so keep everyone else outside of my office while she's here, will you?"

Quinn came in and was kind of surprised to see that Shelby was actually smiling at her and seemed in a good mood; maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Quinn, thank you for coming." She greeted her.

"Yeah, sure..." She replied still on the fence, waiting for her to spill it out.

"Well, there is something I'd like to discuss with you." Shelby announced, leading her to the couch where they both sat. "Look, I'm really satisfied with how things turned out lately. Beth seems to really appreciate spending time with you, and I also noticed that she's less tense than she used to since you came into her life." She began with, leaving Quinn even more confused. "I think you have a very positive effect on her, so I gave it a lot of thoughts and now I have something to ask you." Quinn was starting to stress out again so Shelby cut to the point. "I think we should tell her the truth."

"What?" Quinn retorted, completely taken aback.

"I want her to know that you're her mother." Shelby admitted. "I talked to one of my friends who is a psychologist and he says that it's actually better when kids learn at an early age that they are adopted, so it doesn't become an obstacle for them." The woman explained.

"No I get it, it's just... things like that work out for closed adoptions... I mean, don't you think it's gonna be confusing for her to actually have two moms around? Are you really ok with it?" Quinn asked, a little concerned as to what their respective roles might entail.

"Look, I'm always gonna be the one who checks her homework at night and wakes her up every morning, and I'll love her just as much, nothing's gonna change for me." Shelby reassured her. "The real question here, is do _you_ want to step up and are you ready to take that kind of commitment?" She questioned, trying to find the right words to convince the young girl without frightening her. "Because once we tell her about you, there's no going back."

Quinn didn't know what to think. Being Beth's mom was what she had always dreamed to do, but putting it that way kind of freaked her out a little and she didn't know anymore. Of course she would do whatever it took to stay in her life, but she also didn't want to end up disappointing her.

"Take a moment to think about it, alright? There's no rush. In the meantime," Shelby said as she stood up from the couch "will you come with me to pick her up from her nanny's?"

"Of course."

# # # # # # # # # #

When they got to Shelby's place, Beth was still talking. She had spent the whole ride conversing just about everything and wasn't a bit tired of it. Sometimes it was hard to understand her because she tried to talk like an adult and seemed to forget that she was actually barely three. Quinn loved listening to her; call it maternal pride, but she thought Beth was about the smartest, loveliest kid she had ever met.

"Alright, I need to catch up on some work. I'll be upstairs if you need anything." Shelby announced once the three of them had taken off their jackets. She in fact didn't have that much to do, she was just giving them some private time.

"You wanna play snail race?" The little girl asked, getting the game out of her toy box.

Quinn smiled, it was her favorite game when she was little. Beth looked so much like her; same eyes, same nose, same everything. You'd have to be both blind and deaf to not see the resemblance. They even shared the littlest things, things nobody would ever notice but which made the most complete sense for her. She knew those kinds of quirks were not written in your genes, but it was still nice to find out new habits they had in common, it made it feel real.

"Sure." She answered.

"But you can't have Jerry."

"Who's Jerry?" Quinn asked, a little confused.

Beth opened up the box and revealed the little colored snails, each one of them marked with a name. A smile appeared on her face as soon as she caught sight of them, as if she had missed them while she wasn't home. Quinn couldn't believe it, it was probably the cutest thing she had ever seen.

"This is amazing..." She murmured, still contemplating all the names. "Who did this?"

"Me and mommy, with a black pen. And they're all friends."

"Well, I love it." Quinn confessed.

"You know how to play?" Beth inquired.

"Yeah, I had exactly the same when I was your age."

"What were their names?"

"I don't think they had any." Quinn answered.

Beth felt kind of sad that no one around Quinn had ever thought about it. She loved that her and Shelby had come up with the idea, it made her feel less lonely when she was home. "Who played with you?"

"My sister, when she babysat me."

"Is she at your house, with your mom and dad?" Beth asked, curious to know more and more about her.

"No, not really." Quinn admitted, wistfulness showing in her voice. Things were not that simple and she didn't want Beth to be burdened by those kinds of things, she would learn soon enough about what happens when you grow up. "So, which one would you let me have?"

Once they were done with the game, Beth stood up from the ground and held her hand out for Quinn to take it. She lead her to the piano where she sat on her lap, tenderly leaning her back against her chest. She set two of her little fingers on the keys, and started playing a couple of notes as she felt Quinn's arms wrap around her.

"It's nice, baby."

Her free hand landed on top of Quinn's and gently clutched it, letting her feel the warmth of it. All Quinn wanted to do was to hold her daughter even tighter, tell her how much she loved her, how she would do anything for her and would never ever let her go again. What she felt for Beth was way too out of reach for words to describe, and couldn't compare to any kind of feelings she had ever experienced in her life. She hoped that Beth was sensing it as well, that all of it wasn't just a dream.

"You know, if P- "

She stopped as soon as she realized what she was about to say. Beth turned her head and locked eyes with her, waiting for the rest.

_If Puck was here he could teach you how to play. If Puck was here we could be a family. If Puck was here you could have a father in your life._

She had spent so much time thinking about him, everyday since she had left Lima, that she was actually starting to talk like he was really there with her. But he wasn't.

"Nothing." She continued, giving Beth a smile hoping she would return to her activity.

"Can you stay with us tonight?" The little girl asked.

"Of course."

"You can sleep in my bed, with me."

"Well I can't sleep here, I have to go home. Maybe another time?" Quinn replied, wishing more than anything that they could spend the night together.

"And you'll sing again?"

Quinn laughed, she was sure it would happen someday. "Yes, sure. I promise."

# # # # # # # # # #

Later that night, when Beth was finally asleep, Shelby joined Quinn in the kitchen and found her a little downhearted.

"Is everything ok?" She asked, concerned about her.

"I don't want to turn into him."

"Who?" Shelby asked, confused.

"My father." Quinn admitted. "I'm no better than him."

"Yes, you are. I don't know him personally but I can tell that you are nothing like him."

"How? Just give me one reason, one reason to think I'm any different." She challenged. "I gave up on my child, cheated on my boyfriends, hid my feelings for the sake of appearances... How does that make me better than him?"

"Hey, stop. First of all, you most definitely did not give up on Beth, far from it let me tell you that." Shelby replied, without an ounce of suspicion in her tone. "Do you remember what you said to me, that night at the hospital?" She inquired, as an attempt to make her see the light.

Quinn discreetly nodded. Of course she remembered, it had been both the best and the worst day of her life, she would never forget anything.

"You said that you believed in her, that she was going to accomplish the greatest things and that you didn't want to ruin that for her. Did I get that right?"

Quinn nodded again, reliving every second of it and feeling the pain slowly regain her. Tears were flowing from her gorgeous green eyes and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

"Well, it seems to me that you gave her up because you thought that _you_ were not good enough, and not the other way around. That's where you win." She assured her. "And you came back, I don't recall your father ever doing that."

"I just can't imagine what it would be like to lose her now." Quinn confessed.

"So, does that mean you're ok to tell her everything?"

Quinn bit her bottom lip as a few other tears ran down her cheeks. She looked up to Shelby, letting a reserved smile find its way through the tears on her pretty face.

"Yes, of course."

* * *

I hope you liked it!

I have my exams in a month so I won't be updating until around may 15th, but I promise the following chapters are gonna be fun! A lot of surprise characters coming up :)


	8. Family means something

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

_"Did you come here just to torment me with the idea of seeing my child?"_

_"Look, I want you to be a part of Beth's life. But not like this."_

_"You're not her mom, I'm her mom! Me! So, you can pretend all you want, but that is something you are never going to be."_

Shelby awoke with a start. It was barely 6 am on a saturday morning, the sun wasn't completely out yet and the city was still asleep. She got out of bed and went to check up on Beth, like she did almost everyday. The little girl was cuddled up underneath her blankets, tightening her plush lamb against her. Shelby stayed a few minutes staring at her from the doorframe, just like she always did. Except that this day, she knew that soon things were going to change.

# # # # # # # # # #

"No, I told you not in B flat. Yes, I told you yesterday." Rachel stated, kind of upset that the pianist had messed up her song. Again.

"Well, well. If it isn't my beautiful daughter being bossy, as usual." Shelby announced, walking into the spacious room in her short-sleeved purple dress.

"Shelby!" Rachel shouted, running toward her to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, what do you think."

"Yes, but you usually come during the week, when Beth is at school. What have you done with her anyway?"

"She's with Quinn for the afternoon, so I figured I'd stop by." Shelby replied.

"So I take it that things are going well between you then?"

There was a moment of silence before Shelby could finally answer. "Yes, absolutely."

"What's wrong then?"

"Everything's fine, she's great with Beth, it's just..." The woman took a deep breath before carrying on. "It's me, actually. We agreed that we were going to tell her the truth, and I know it was my idea but I keep having nightmares. I can't help but think that I'm gonna lose her and that just can't happen."

"For what it's worth, I don't think it's gonna change anything." Rachel announced, with a certain form of assurance. "Like, she's three she's not even going to understand what it means."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"And trust me, she's gonna love you for it when she'll be older."

"What does that mean?" Shelby questioned, feeling that Rachel was not really talking about Beth.

"Well, I love my dads, obviously... but I wish they had told me about you before I had to find out for myself." She admitted. "I don't think it would have made me love them any less. But it sure would have saved me from a lot of questions and things that only you could have helped me with."

"I know..." She took Rachel's hand from across the piano, wishing she could have changed that. "Speaking of helping you, I have something more important to tell you."

"What is it?" The young girl asked, enthusiastic to find out what it was all about.

"Well, the dean of NYADA offered me a job as a vocal coach here."

"And what did you say?"

"That I would think about it. It's a new class that will start in the fall, to mentor students that would be interested to perform on Broadway." Shelby explained. "And of course, if you don't want me to take it I won't, that's not a problem."

"Are you kidding? That would be amazing!"

"You think so?"

"Yes absolutely, it would be nice to have you around more." Rachel confessed.

"Great. Now how about I help you out with this song?" Shelby proposed.

"I'd love that."

# # # # # # # # # #

"So what do you find there, missy?" Quinn asked.

She was laying on the couch, shirt up while Beth was studying her stomach. The little girl set her plastic stethoscope on Quinn's skin one more time, right next to her belly button, with the most serious expression on her face.

May wasn't being at its best, it was thundering and pouring like crazy outside, but oddly enough Beth didn't seem scared at all. Maybe she really was tough, or maybe she was just feeling safe around Quinn.

"Quinn you're sick!" She finally shouted in her high pitched voice.

"Oh no, are you sure?" She was having a hard time trying not to laugh as she watched Beth in all of her cuteness.

"But I don't want you to die..." She pouted.

"Then take care of me, you're the doctor right?"

She bent over the couch to kiss Quinn's bare stomach, the only cure she knew about, and hurried to wrap her arms around her, not really playing anymore.

"Hey it's ok, I'm fine!" Quinn said as she straightened up and returned the embrace even tighter. She drew back a little and gave her daughter the biggest smile to reassure her, then softly pressed her nose against hers as an attempt to make her laugh.

"Oh look, it stopped raining."

The little girl turned around to face the window. "I want to jump in the puddles..." She stated, even though she knew her mother had never let her do that. Quinn figured it as well but was not able to refuse her anything.

"Well, I guess we would have to find your boots first..."

"And then we can do it?!" Beth asked, really ecstatic.

"Of course we can! That's the best part of rainy days, right?"

"And hot chocolate..." The little girl chuckled.

After their hundredth puddle and tons of laughter from them both, it started to pour again - only even more violently. They had gotten pretty far from Shelby's apartment, but Quinn had no idea of where else to go. She kneeled down to Beth's level and put the bear ears hoodie of her raincoat on.

"We're gonna have to run." She told her. Beth smiled.

They arrived breathless and completely soaked, they looked at each other and started laughing again. They were cold and tired but it didn't matter, they were happy.

Beth admired Quinn, you could see it in the way she looked at her, trying to memorize each one of her moves or words. She might not know that she was her real mom, but she definitely felt the special bond between them. How Quinn could spend hours without taking her eyes off of her, how cautious she was everytime she touched her, how she had never been mad at her for anything, how safe she felt whenever she was around. There was that little spark that lighted up in her whenever she saw Quinn, she made her feel special.

Quinn came back in the living room with some towels and hairbrushes. She made Beth sit in front of her and started combing her hair as water drops trickled down from it.

It felt like a dream. For most people it was an ordinary moment, something involved in their daily routine and almost becoming a chore among other unpleasant things. For her it was different, it was her little girl and she would never take anything for granted with her.

She took a look at her every now and then to make sure she wasn't hurting her or anything. Beth on the other hand had been staring at her for a while.

"What are you looking at, buddy?" Quinn asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"We have the same hair." Beth replied.

"Yeah, how cool is that?"

As soon as she was done brushing, Quinn braided Beth's front hair so that it wouldn't bug her falling down on her face. She cupped her sweet little cheek in her hand and lightly stroked it with her thumb, thinking of how beautiful and perfect she was.

"What do you say I make you that hot chocolate now?"

* * *

Hey :) So this chapter was mostly fluff but I hope you still enjoyed it, and stay tuned because the real and serious storyline starts next chapter (which I will probably post in 1 or 2 days).

And a big thank you to all those of you who keep reading!


	9. Too dumb to give up

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

Quinn stepped onto that stage, in a white sundress and a cerise cardigan, like she had so many times before. Although this time it was different. The auditorium was weirdly empty, the lights were out, no whiny glee clubber crying about how miserable they were; it looked like another life. Yet it made her feel exactly the same, she was finally home.

The sound of her wedge heels echoed in the infinite silence, and she thought of celebrating her return with some singing. It had been ages since she had belted her last notes here but it would have been kind of sad to leave like that.

_Right from the start you were a thief you stole my heart,_

_I let you see the parts of me that weren't all that pretty,_

_And with every touch you fixed them._

_Now you've been talking in your sleep, things you never say to me,_

_Tell me that you've had enough of our love._

Just as she finished her first verse, the side spotlights swiftly lighted up, illuminating the whole stage with their pink and blue colors.

_Just give me a reason just a little bit's enough,_

_Just a second we're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again._

_It's in the stars, it's been written in the scars on our hearts,_

_We're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again._

All of a sudden, he appeared on the other side of the stage. Noah Puckerman. Her Lima loser, her baby daddy, her biggest weakness. He came closer to her, still keeping some distance between them and took over the song.

_I'm sorry I don't understand where all of this is coming from, I thought that we were fine._

Quinn felt like it was maybe the first time that they were actually hearing eachother, and not just talking from different worlds not listening to what they were saying. She felt like for once all of the words were leading somewhere, so she kept going, painfully reminding him of the harsh truth like she was getting stabbed in the heart.

_Oh, we had everything._

It hurt him to hear that as well, she really didn't need to say it. He knew what she was referring to and he definitely knew the feeling, that bitterness burning deep down inside, but he also knew that no matter what happened she was still the one stuck on his mind every damn day and maybe she had to know.

_Your heart is running wild again my dear we still have everything and it's all in your mind._

_You've been having real bad dreams, you used to lie so close to me,_

_There's nothing more than empty sheets between our love._

Their arms reached out to eachother, it had been an eternity since they'd last touched but none of them had forgotten how it felt. And as their hands finally joined, their voices did the same for the rest of the song.

_Just give me a reason just a little bit's enough,_

_Just a second we're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again._

_I never stopped, it's still written in the scars on my heart._

_We're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again._

_Tear ducts and rust, I'll fix it for us, we're collecting dust but our love's enough._

They were way within kissing distance, hands in hands, their breaths striking eachother's skin so brutally; so close but yet so far away. Quinn backed down a little, letting go of his hands, and ran one of hers in her hair trying to mask her nervousness.

"I stopped by your house." She stated when she realized that he wouldn't be the first to talk.

"So it's true then," he replied irritated, "what my mother told me? That you've been seeing _her_?"

Quinn nodded before looking down, she knew he would be mad at her for not telling him.

"How long has it been?" He asked.

"A few months."

"You could have told me, ask me to come or something." He was frowning at her and she didn't like that.

"Oh right, because that worked so well last time." She replied sarcastically with a fake laugh.

"It's different now."

"Really? Why?"

He didn't answer, maybe he knew she was right.

"Because Beth is there?" Quinn continued, raising her voice a little. "You didn't want to come with me when I asked you last summer, why would it be different this time?"

"I couldn't just follow you around doing nothing while you were at school, Quinn!"

"And I understood that! I told you it was fine and I supported you. But you don't get to be mad at me for not wanting to be rejected like that again."

"You knew I would have come for her." Puck stated.

"But I don't want it to be like that! I don't want you to be with me just because of her. And no one stopped you from going to see her if that's what you really wanted."

Puck was about to say something when Tina walked in, smiling from ear to ear.

"Guys! I thought I heard something!" She shouted as she rushed to give each of them a hug. "You're early, graduation doesn't start until a couple of hours."

"We just wanted to say hi before." Quinn answered, happy to see a familiar face.

"Since you're here, you have to come with us in glee, like old times you know. Come on, it will be fun."

"Absolutely." Puck agreed.

The three of them headed to the choir room, catching up a little on the way. Tina informed them that they hadn't won Nationals and that the group was lacking some motivation this year. They were largely applauded when they entered the room, which made them feel good for a change. Mr Schue was in heaven to have them again, he missed his original glee club so much.

"Why don't you sit with the others? It's our last class of the year." He proposed.

Quinn sat next to Artie, Puck at the other side of the room. They both tried to distract themselves throughout the hour, but it was hard to think about anything else when they knew they had so many things to discuss.

They didn't get a chance to do so until the evening at Brittany's party. Puck found Quinn sitting on the few steps leading to the pool, it was probably the only quiet place left by then, even though she could still hear the distant sound of music and excitement. She was contemplating the light and calming movements of the water, breathing the fresh air of a summer night. She caught sight of him approaching with a drink in hands, his shirt open and revealing his tank top. His jeans were pulled into his boots and he had gone back to the mohawk hairstyle.

"Can I join you?" He asked, smiling this time.

"Yeah..." Quinn answered as he sat right next to her on the steps.

He handed her his cup, he figured she might need a drink too.

"No thanks." She replied. She had never been that much into alcohol and she had to drive home later.

"You Yale people are lightweights."

Quinn let a faint laugh escape, she had missed him. Sure he could be rude and do stupid things sometimes, but he was also the most caring and loving person she had ever known.

"So how's life?" He continued.

"Good. Lonely. I thought the best part would be to start a new life and all, but I realized that I had everything, right here, and yet when I come back it doesn't feel right. Like now. You're here, everyone's here, I got to spend some time with my mom, I know I still have all summer to do that but I still miss it and it makes me want to leave again."

"Don't you think it's because of Beth?"

Quinn looked at him, she didn't know what he meant.

"You miss something and you think it's Lima, these people and what life used to be, but it isn't. Whether you're here, New Heaven or even on the moon, it will always be the same. And you don't even bother talking about it because no one would understand what it's like."

"Yeah, maybe... So how do you move past that?" She asked. Maybe he had the answer, he had never been a book-smart kind of guy but he knew a lot of useful real life things.

"I don't have a freakin' clue."

They kept looking at the water in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying being together again.

"I'm glad to see you." She finally admitted, biting her lower lip and laughing at herself for being so common.

"Yeah, me too." Puck replied, gently rubbing her back. "So what is she like?" He asked after a moment.

"She's amazing." Quinn answered, smiling at him. Not the fake smile she used for creating the appearance that everything was fine, her real smile that he was one of the rare persons to know about. "She reminds me of you."

"Are you kidding me? Girl's just like you." He retorted, kind of exasperated.

"I would _never_ stand on a table singing with a guitar in hands." She chuckled.

"She did that? God you're right, she's definitely my kid." He said proudly before taking a sip from his cup.

"You really want to see her, don't you?"

Puck nodded, back to serious.

"Maybe we could do this together you know." Quinn proposed. "I don't see her too often, about once a month, but it would be nice if you were there."

She paused a few seconds to look at him, the light of the pool was reflecting in his brown eyes. He looked back at her, realizing that she was getting more and more beautiful everytime he saw her.

"I have to go back to Yale on tuesday to get the rest of my stuff, we could stop by and start there."

"That'd be awesome..."

"Then come with me." She said, almost begging him and setting her hand on his thigh.

"I can't, Quinn." He replied, a little heart broken.

"What? Why? I thought this was what you wanted?"

"I got a summer job in LA, like an internship or something with a TV show director. It's temporary, but I have to leave in a week."

She took her hand off of him and turned her head on the other side so that he wouldn't see her face. It was the second time she asked the same question, and the second time he declined her offer. But again, she couldn't be mad at him for trying to make something of his life, but she also didn't want to talk to him right now. She got up and adjusted her dress to go find the others.

"Quinn I'm sorry-" Puck began.

"It's fine, don't worry. You don't have to say anything." She lied, giving him her show face before walking away, fighting the tears that were about to escape.

* * *

Happy to see Puck? :)


	10. Too stubborn to change

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

Puck took off his sunglasses and laid back a little on the low wall he was sitting on, relishing the pleasing warmth of the sun rays striking his face. Far away were the days when he used to clean pools at this time of the year, and he didn't really miss it, except that now he had to voluntarily expose himself to the sun to get his skin tanned. And he _needed_ a tanned skin, every chick loved that.

He heard the big wooden door in front of him open, and one of his eyes did the same. The sun was blurring his view, but he recognized her. She was wearing flat shoes, a colorful skirt baring her perfect legs and carried a folder in her arms, a perfectly normal day in the life of Quinn Fabray. Plus her breasts looked particularly great that day. She stopped as soon as she saw him. What was he doing in New Haven, she had no idea. He stood up, put back his Aviator sunglasses on and walked up to her.

"Theatre, huh?" He said, looking up to the building she had just came out of. "I thought you were done for the year?"

Quinn got a little closer to him. "I am. I had a last paper due before taking off for good."

Puck nodded. He marked a bit of bitterness in her voice and was pretty sure she didn't want to see him because she was avoiding eye contact with him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She continued. "Aren't you supposed to leave or something?"

"I want to do this you." He announced.

Quinn finally looked at him in the eyes.

"I'm tired of missing everything..." He pouted.

"But... what about your job?"

"I'll go." He said. "For the summer, while you're in Lima. And if they still want me in the fall I'll quit."

"You would do that?"

"I'd do anything, Quinn." There was a moment of silence before Puck spoke again. "Look, I heard Berry and Kurt talk about some fair in New York this week... maybe we could go with Beth tonight? You know, just the three of us."

Quinn thought about it for a second, trying to decide if it was really a good idea for their daughter to see him when she had no assurance that he would stay for good.

"Fine." She finally said. "I'll ask Shelby."

"Awesome. Can I buy you lunch now? I'm starving!" He tried.

"I've got stuff to do today, Puck." She said kind of annoyed as she started to walk away.

He grabbed her arm before she was too far from him. "Pick you up at six?"

"Sure."

It was 6:17 when he knocked at her door. It's not that he was uninterested or anything, he was just having a hard time with his orientation when he was in big cities like this one.

"You're late." Quinn said after opening the door.

She was ready and got out right away without wasting any more time, they had quite a long way to New York ahead of them. Puck on the other hand, took a second to look at her while she was locking the door. She had changed since their morning encounter but she was still dressed casually, nothing too fancy. _Good_ he thought to himself, because he was still wearing the exact same clothes, a khaki summer jacket over a black tank top and his usual jeans.

"Sorry, got lost." He replied.

Quinn slightly rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see it from behind.

"Have you seen how many buildings there are around here?!" He continued kind of astonished, as if she wasn't aware of that.

They made their way to Puck's truck, running into a couple of students as they went down the stairs. Some of them were wearing varsity sweaters, and each time Puck turned his head to gaze at them. He was taken aback by how serious and smart they all looked, but kind of glad to not be like that.

"Are you gonna talk to me?" He asked after about two miles.

She was looking out the window, impatient to see Beth, but no, she didn't want to talk to him. He turned his music on when she didn't answer, and that did not help. He thought again about those students, how weird they all seemed to him. Quinn was not like that. She was crazy smart of course, smartest person he knew, but there was something different about her, she was special. He took his eyes off the road to glance at her, the sun was setting on her pretty face; she was madly beautiful and Puck was pretty sure that she didn't even try. The music went on, the miles passed by, and yet it was still silent.

"Could I please know what I've done wrong?" He asked after a while, turning off the music.

"You were late."

"And that's why you're mad at me? Are you actually being serious right now?"

_Mood swings. Typical Quinn Fabray. _He thought, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I thought you would be more excited to see her or at least have the decency to show up on time. That's all." She said simply, not even angry.

"Come on, I didn't mean to be late!" He shouted before calming himself down. "Fifteen minutes. Fifteen freakin minutes, Quinn."

"It's not about that, Puck."

"Then what is it? Explain."

"Do you even realize how amazing it is that we get to spend time with her?" She began. "That her mother is ok to let us _see_ her? Most people don't even get photos. So yes, it bothers me to see that apparently it's not special enough for you."

"It is." He said while staring at the road.

Quinn turned her head to look at him.

"I know that, trust me." He added. "I wouldn't have come here if it didn't mean anything to me."

The traffic was good enough to get them in front of Shelby's apartment by eight. It was still day outside when they got out of the car - the perks of summer. Puck was starting to get nervous, but he couldn't wait.

"Did you feel it?" He asked, breathing abnormally as they made their way through the sidewalk. "The weight in your chest? When you first met her."

"Yeah, kind of."

Quinn smiled, remembering that she was way more scared than that. But she thought it was cute to see him like this.

"Anyway, it will pass." She chuckled.

She knocked on the door and quickly glanced at Puck who was standing right behind her, a little too close to her liking. She faintly smiled at him before Shelby opened and warmly greeted them. Quinn caught sight of Beth's blond little head peeking into the hall, her face lighted up as soon as she recognized who it was.

"Quiiiiinn!" She screamed as she ran to her and stuffed her face into Quinn's dress.

"Hi buddy!" Quinn said as she bent to press a kiss on top of her head. "Look, I brought someone with me today. This is Puck, I've already talked to you about him, remember?"

Beth was already examining him from her three feet height when Puck squatted in front of her to get a better view.

"Nice to meet you, little girl." He said, shaking hands with her.

She let a light laugh out and couldn't help but comment on his look. "Your hair is weird."

"You say that because you're jealous." He replied with a smirk.

"Urghhh, no."

She laughed again. It was the most amazing sound in the world.

"We better get going before it gets too late." Quinn stated.

Once Beth had put her cute denim jacket on and grabbed her lamb - just in case -, the three of them headed to the truck. Quinn was carrying Beth in her arms on their way and then installed her on the baby seat that Puck had found in his attic.

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" Quinn asked Beth as they left the street.

"I love burgers." She said, looking out the window. "With lots of fries!"

Puck couldn't help but smile, it was his absolute favorite food.

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked again. "We can take you to a real restaurant you know. Somewhere clean, with actual cooking."

Puck looked at her outraged and a bit overdramatic. "What are you talking about?" Then he took a look in the rearview mirror. "It's a great idea, Beth."

The night had fallen when they finished dinner and they headed directly to the park where the fair was set. They watched their daughter do a bunch of what seemed like real fun attractions, and even got to do some with her. She was riding an odd looking fish on a carousel when Puck and Quinn got their first moment really alone.

"Look at her." Puck laughed as Beth passed by, waving at them.

"She's too cute." Quinn said as they both returned the wave from afar.

"Did you really talk to her about me?" He asked, looking at Quinn.

"Sometimes." She replied before biting her lip and allowing a smirk. She was pretty sure her face was blushing by now but it was too dark for him to see.

"What did you say?"

"Not much. Nothing that could compare to the real phenomenon." She joked, softly bumping his arm with her elbow.

"Damn right." He agreed. "Do you ever think that we got lucky? To have her and everything."

"Lucky isn't exactly the word I would use." Quinn said, without taking her eyes off of Beth. "We're lucky that she turned out so great and we're lucky to know her but... I don't know, I haven't quite experienced it that way."

Puck watched the lights of the carousel dance on her face, lightening her hazel eyes and wondered if she really regretted having Beth, because he knew he didn't. '_No regrets'_ she had told him the year before, but he was having a bad day so maybe she was just trying to cheer him up, ignoring her own feelings on the way.

"I think she's awesome." He finally stated. "And I wouldn't change anything. Except maybe, fight harder for her."

The carousel stopped and the two of them moved from their spot to go pick up Beth.

"You wouldn't understand anyway." Quinn said as she walked past Puck, leaving him a little stumped.

They were both holding one of their daughter's hands as they wandered amid the several stands and attractions. They could feel the freshness of the grass under their feet, but it was a pleasing night, even the stars were looking after them. Beth was in awe before the colorful lightings in the dead of night and the smell of cotton candy in the air, which made them wondered if she had ever been to a fair before. They finally sat at a table outside to order a drink and Quinn left to try to find a restroom. Beth was standing on her knees, next to Puck on the bench and sipping some coke from her straw.

"Are you Quinn's boyfriend?" She asked, still staring at her can.

"No." Puck immediately retorted. "What made you think that?"

"But do you love her?!" The little girl inquired, gesturing with her hands as if she was trying to lecture him with her three years old experience.

"Yes, but not... finish your drink, ok?"

Beth's eyes widened for a second before she returned to her straw. "I think she's veeery pretty."

"Yeah, she is..." Puck almost whispered, lost in his thoughts. "Just like you." They just got the time to share a smile when Puck came up with another great idea of his. "You wanna race? First to finish their drink, go!"

Quinn came back just in time to see the scene and sat in front of them.

"What are you doing?" She laughed.

She understood what was going on when neither of them responded, but Beth was getting sidetracked by her laughter.

"Oh, great. I'm not the one cleaning up when she pukes, Puckerman." She assured him.

Quinn got her cellphone out from her purse to take a picture, you could see the ferris wheel behind them, it looked perfect. Thereupon they left the park, heading back to Puck's truck. Beth was getting tired so he carried her on his shoulders, carefully holding her little legs wrapped around his neck. She was playing with his mohawk from up there and running her hands on the shaved parts of his head. They were almost arrived when she leant toward one of his ears, the one that wasn't on Quinn's side.

"Maybe she'll like you if you cut your hair." Beth whispered.

Puck didn't answer but he rose his eyes to catch Beth's, wishing she could have been right. They settled her into the car, Puck found a blanket in his trunk and he covered her so that she wouldn't be cold. She cuddled with her lamb for barely two minutes before falling asleep. It was past eleven when they brought her home; she made Puck promise to come again and they kissed her goodnight.

"That was awesome!" Puck stated as he and Quinn went down the few steps linking the porch to the pavement. "She's totally gonna like us more when she knows the truth." He said, proud of him.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Quinn announced, out of the blue.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You've been acting crazy since I got here and I'm sick of it!"

"What's wrong with me is that I hate you!" She shouted as she turned to Puck and saw his eyes widen in incomprehension. "I hate what you did to me and I hate that you never grew a pair to at least help me through it!"

Under the street lamps, Puck saw tears rolling down her cheeks, he had never seen her this devastated. "I went through it too, you know." He said.

"No... you have no idea of how hard or painful it was." She continued. "You weren't the one who saw his entire life fall apart. Nobody ever looked at you differently even though you were as responsible as I was. And you had ways to get it out of your head, I was stuck with it!"

"But I was there for you!"

"Really? Did you know that I've been to one of those maternity classes one day? It freaked the hell out of me so I never went back, that's the kind of stress you never had to endure and you let me do it alone, and I hated you..."

"Well I'm sorry but I tried, you never did!" Puck ranted, raising his voice. "I hate you for never giving us a chance. It's your fault if we're not her parents and it's your fault if she doesn't know us!"

They had never been this honest with eachother before, but at some point it had to get out. Quinn was crying and Puck was almost regretting his words, but he had hidden his feelings for too long and he needed her to know.

"And why the hell would you let a single woman take her, anyway? After everything you said about wanting her to have a good father."

"Well maybe it wasn't you I was afraid of." Quinn retorted as if he should have figured it out by now. "I just... I couldn't do it."

"Come on, we all know that you never wanted her."

"Don't say that."

"Why? It's the truth." Puck said calmly.

"I did want her. More than anything. But unlike you I cared for her more than for my own feelings." She admitted before turning her back on him and walking away.

"Quinn, where are you going!? I'm supposed to drive you home, remember?" Puck shouted as he saw her leave in the opposite direction.

"I'll take a cab. I don't need you."

Puck drove back by himself; the ride was long and silent. He wasn't even in the mood to turn on his music. He felt lighter, but terrible. He needed a drink when he arrived to his hotel in New Haven, so he stopped by the bar. His beer felt like heaven in his mouth but was having a hard time sliding down his throat. He ordered a second one and as he relished its coldness into his palm, he realized there was some place else he needed to be. Puck took a walk around the neighborhood, it was calm and everyone seemed to be asleep but her light was still on. It was 2 am and he knew what she was doing, so he decided to go check on her.

"Hey." He said simply when Quinn opened the door.

Her face was dry but her eyes were red and puffy and she looked exhausted. She had changed into a white t-shirt, way too large for her thin frame and her legs were naked. She smiled, or at least she tried because it wasn't convincing. Puck got a step closer and took her in his arms, Quinn's head huddling against his chest. They both closed their eyes for a minute and were finally able to breathe. After turning off the light they settled in her bed, lying face to face on their sides, so close that they could feel eachother's breaths on their skin.

"I'm sorry." Quinn muttered after a while.

Puck didn't answer and she figured that he might have fallen asleep. The truth was that he didn't want to talk to her, he was there to make sure she was ok because even after everything he still loved her and he would always care for her, but he didn't want to talk to her that night.

When the first rays of light peeked through the window the next morning, her hand had found its way on his waist. Puck left in silence without waking her up, only leaving a note on her desk behind him.

_Leaving today. Have a great summer Quinn._

* * *

Helloooo :) I hope you liked it and don't forget to tell me what you think!

Also I have the opportunity to include like two or three other characters next chapter, tell me who you want to see!


	11. Of lovers and friends

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

"Mom, I'm going!" Quinn shouted from the front door as she left her house, barely concerned for the response.

She got into her car, the exact replica of her old one that had been crashed in the accident, and left the driveway. The steering wheel was boiling hot into her palms and the seat belt was burning her chest through her thin dress. There was absolutely no clouds in the sky, not even the smallest breeze to ease the impact of the sun. However she was glad to get out of the house to meet up with friends, and to be honest, it was the only thing she was longing for this summer and the only thing that would keep her in Lima for three months. Or so she thought.

When she arrived at the park she caught sight of a messy blond head and immediately recognized Sam, waiting for her under a tree. His brawny arms were stretched along the back of the bench, as if he was trying to occupy as much length as he possibly could. Quinn walked up to him from behind and ran her hand on his shoulder to surprise him. He looked up to see who it was and stood up right away, giving her a genuinely loving hug.

"Have you been waiting for long?" Quinn asked as they sat down.

"Nah. My dad dropped me off like five minutes ago."

"Are your parents back?"

"Yeah they moved back from Kentucky this year." Sam answered. "You know, living with Burt and Carole was great, but it wasn't the same without Finn and Kurt around." He smiled and took a moment to look at her. "So, how does it feel to be free?"

"Weird." Quinn laughed. "And I have no idea what I'm gonna do with my days now. I spent so much time studying that I don't even remember how I used to fill my free time when I had some."

"Don't worry, we'll find fun stuff to do." He rubbed her arm to reassure her. "Do you know if the others are coming home?"

"Santana will be here next week, Mercedes too I think... Puck's in LA, though." She said, looking at some kids playing ball in the distance.

"Huh, sucks."

"Yeah."

Sam looked at her and knew something was wrong, he wasn't the best at discerning people's feelings but he had dated Quinn long enough to notice when she had something on her mind, so he decided to drop the subject.

"Artie went to visit his new school." He announced.

"Really?" Quinn was excited, she knew how much it meant to him to get into his dream cinema school. Artie had talked to her about it when they started hanging out after her accident, and he had never stopped ever since. He had even texted her after receiving his acceptance letter a few months earlier, and she was really happy for him.

"Yeah, he left yesterday but he should be back in two days or something."

"And what about you? Where are you going next year?"

The young boy looked away. He really didn't like to talk about his future because first he had absolutely no idea of what he wanted to do, and second he was convinced that he wasn't good enough for whatever it might be.

"Sam?" She asked again, bending a little to catch his eyes.

"I don't know, ok?! I don't know." He buried his face in his hands for a second and quickly apologized for losing his cool. "I'm sorry."

His eyes were red and Quinn was definitely relating to him, she knew what it was like to feel worthless. Of course she had a reputation to preserve and thus never let it show and always strode across the hallways showing the opposite, but in the end she had never really believed in herself either, and high school had had its ways to make it worse.

"I've never been like good at anything." He stated.

"I'm sure that's not true. What about music? You're great at guitar, and singing."

"And what am I supposed to do with it?"

"You could teach kids how to play, form a band and go on tour, I don't know. And weren't you once telling me that you loved astronomy?" Quinn tried to breathe life into him, cheer him up a bit. "All I'm saying is that you have options. Think about it, write a list of what makes you happy and draw from there."

Sam nodded and locked eyes with her. "Thanks, Quinn. It's good to see you again."

They left their bench in the shade of the tree and exposed themselves to the sun, slowly walking around the park. Sam suddenly felt better and kept asking her about her life, which he was quite intrigued by. "Have you made new friends?"

"A few. Nothing much serious, though." Quinn smiled, a hint of disappointment on her face. "People are a lot more judgmental over there."

"Shouldn't be that hard for you then. I mean you're smart, good looking and all."

"Oh no I'm not talking about me, it's just what I've seen." She explained. "Any misstep and you're done. Trust me, I rather lay low on that one and not reveal too much."

"So basically you're not being you."

"I am. Not entirely that's for sure, but let's just say I try to find a compromise and stay in the norm."

"Ok... Hey speaking of friends, I'm invited to a party tonight." Sam began. "I wasn't planing on going but since you're here maybe we could go together."

"Ok." She agreed. "I mean, I don't have anything else to do."

# # # # # # # # # #

"But, why is the rum gone?" Sam gestured with his hands, swaying a little.

It was hard to tell in the dark, but Quinn raised an eyebrow and weirdly glanced at him as she took the red plastic cup that one of his friends was handing her.

"That's my Jack Sparrow impression." Sam announced seriously, taking his own drink.

"Oh, right." Quinn was kind of embarrassed as they strayed further from the bar.

"How'd I do?"

"G-Good."

There was an awkward silence that they both tried to hide by sipping from their cup and looking away. It wasn't that Quinn didn't like his impressions, but the fact that he always needed to remind everyone of who he was imitating clearly showed the work he had yet to accomplish in that area.

"So what's with you and Puckerman?" Sam finally asked the question that had been burning his tongue all day, jumping on the occasion to point the conversation towards her. Quinn looked at him but didn't answer, was it that obvious? "I saw you two talking at Britt's party the other day."

The blonde girl sighed heavily, looking down at her feet. "It's complicated."

"We have all night so... you might wanna give it a shot."

After a moment of hesitation, Quinn explained him the whole situation as they kept walking around the garden, mostly filled with people she didn't even know. Sam was the first to hear about it and she realized that maybe confiding to people wasn't so bad, even if she wasn't that comfortable with it.

"And last time we talked, we both said things that were kind of rough." She continued.

"How rough?"

Quinn felt his luscious lips staring at her, waiting for more information. "I might have brought out that I hated him..." Her tone was slow, unsure and full of guilt.

"Ouch. Do you regret it?"

"No. I don't think so."

That statement kind of surprised Sam whose eyebrows suddenly frowned. "Why?" He asked, shaking his head a little.

"I never meant to hurt him, which I did but... I was just being honest."

Sam stopped to sit on a low stone wall bordering a line of bushes, his opened plaid shirt floating on the breeze and revealing a dark blue tee. "I think y'all gonna be good then."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"You are, because you care about eachother. Think, you wouldn't have bothered to say anything if you hadn't something to gain from it."

Quinn sat next to him, interested in hearing more of his theory. She had the taste of cheap Vodka in her mouth, which she didn't particularly enjoy in itself but she appreciated the feeling it gave her. She felt awake and powerful, imagining everything she had yet to conquer and was ready to fight for in her lifetime. Her plan had been to start a new life and let go of everyone to truly find herself first, but after a year away she was now pretty sure of which direction she wanted her life to follow.

Sam continued his explanation. "Sometimes you say things that hurt people but in fact you're just pushing obstacles away so that you can love them better."

"I don't know it seemed more like bringing back obstacles than pushing them away to me." Quinn's lips pursed as she gazed at the less and less full plastic cup between her hands.

Sam smiled and straightened up his chest. "It's like my dad always says, you can't build a castle with wobbling stones."

Quinn chuckled in her 'oh god' kind of way, revealing her perfect teeth. "You know, I think you'd make a great philosopher. Maybe you could beat Kant."

"I have no idea of who that is."

# # # # # # # # # #

"You know what Q? I honestly feel like you haven't spent enough time in New York this year." Said Santana as she continued to absorb all the sun she could get.

The girls were laying by Quinn's pool in their swimsuits, enjoying a hot afternoon in July.

"What about me?" Mercedes retorted as she kept applying nail polish on Santana's fingers. "I ain't allowed to visit at least once? I never even set foot in the place since you've been there."

"Well that's because your sweet ass has been sunbathing itself all year long in LA."

Mercedes smiled. "Don't be jealous."

"Santana's right." Quinn finally stated, which made the brunette jolt. Never in her life would have she imagined hearing those words in that order from Quinn. The both of them rarely agreed on anything, but they weren't complaining. That's how their friendship worked and stood still, and they wouldn't have it any other way. "I think we should _all_ go to New York for a few days." The blonde continued. "There's nothing forcing us to stay here after all."

Through their big sunglasses, Santana and Mercedes glanced at eachother, as if the idea hadn't crossed their mind before. Quinn lifted up a bit, resting on her elbows. She felt dizzy after lying there for so long.

Santana blew on her nails to dry them up faster. "Lady Hummel and Rachel are still in the apartment, but for you I would bear the agony of a few more late night moisturizing sessions."

"Let's surprise them!" Mercedes sounded ecstatic.

After they settled on the details of their trip, the three of them spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about all and nothing, lulled by the feeble sound of the water until neither of them could stay still anymore. That's what Quinn called a real day of vacation. As the sun was setting behind the trees, they went back inside. Santana was changing in the Fabrays' bathroom, while Mercedes sat on Quinn's bed and sighed heavily, exhausted from all this inactivity - doing nothing could really wear you out sometimes.

"Is there another reason why you want to go to New York, Quinn?" Mercedes already knew the answer, she just wanted a confirmation.

Quinn was putting on a white sundress over her two pieces swimsuit. She kept acting cool to hide the fact that she knew exactly what Mercedes was talking about. "Beside spending time with you girls?"

"Give it up. Sam told me."

The blonde girl looked down at her bare feet; Sam was a blabbermouth, that wasn't a surprise, but now she was just uncomfortable. Quinn had never been the type to be publicly sentimental or to depend on people, but with Beth it was different and there was nothing she could do about it.

Usually she would have cut the conversion but Mercedes was one of the rare people to whom she could tell pretty much everything without feeling judged. "Fine, maybe I've thought about seeing Beth while we'll be there."

"It's all cool, and don't worry I got your back." Mercedes' tone was even more understanding than she had imagined. "I don't get why you keep it secret though, it kinda look like you're ashamed of it."

Quinn sat on her light purple sheets next to her. "I'm not. I mean I was, but I think it wore off." She suddenly felt a rush throughout her body, as if her friend had magically given her the strength she needed. It certainly wasn't magic, Quinn had worked on that for a long time, but that's the moment she realized that it had finally paid off. "You're right. No more hiding stuff and feeling ashamed from now on."

"Deal."

# # # # # # # # # #

Quinn stood up from the couch, quickly followed by her mother, and headed to her bedroom.

"I knew there was something wrong with you." Judy stated as she turned to the kitchen. It wasn't really a reproach, she had just noticed her daughter acting differently since she was back.

Quinn was hastily climbing up the stairs. "There's nothing wrong with me!" Perhaps it was an attempt to convince herself, but there was some kind of assurance in her high voice. "Some of us just don't do well with abandoning their child." She immediately stopped in her steps and stared at the grey painted wall in front of her. "Sorry."

The older woman looked up to see Quinn sort of paralyzed in the staircase. "You still haven't forgiven me, have you?"

Quinn shook her head no, looking at her feet; she felt guilty for snapping at her mother, it wasn't her fault if her father was a complete ass. She was as much of a victim in the story, but Quinn had always kept thinking that she could have at least stood up for her daughter that night.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I love you and I'm grateful for living here again but... it's still there."

Judy was not that surprised by this confession and she was determined to fix their relationship. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Just... give me time." Quinn said before vanishing into her room.

When she left her house the next morning, bags and suitcase in hands, the young girl passed by her mother who had collapsed on the couch, the TV still on. Quinn turned it off and noticed a bottle of white wine half empty on the living room table. _Rough night_, she thought, but she didn't say anything - as usual. She left a note next to it, reminding her mother that she had left for New York with her friends.

# # # # # # # # # #

"Ok my turn, my turn." Kurt announced. "Best musical you've ever seen."

"That is absolutely unacceptable. I'm gonna end up drunk as shit if you keep asking lame questions." Santana ranted.

It was past midnight and they were all sitting on the parquet floor, playing the best/worst drinking game after an intense afternoon of shopping.

"Come on Santana, I'm sure you know plenty." Rachel said before biting into her slice of pizza.

Quinn smiled and glanced at Santana. "You knew it was gonna come to this eventually."

"No. Actually I thought that I would have gotten the two of them wasted before that happened."

"Okay guys," Mercedes interfered. "I think it's time to stop before you start going at eachother's throats."

"Thank you." Santana mouthed.

"So Rachel, how are things with you and Finn?" Mercedes wondered.

Santana ran a hand through her long and wavy hair. "Oh please, I'm not nearly drunk enough to listen to this."

Rachel rolled her eyes, she was definitely used to her friend's remarks. "Fine, but also nowhere. I hope he'll come visit soon though, I miss him and while our phone conversations are delightful may I say, nothing will ever happen as long as he's not in front of me for real."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kurt mocked her. "None of us are expecting less than a white dress and two rings in the end. I, for one, would be more interested in hearing what's happening in _your_ love life." He said, pointing towards Mercedes.

Quinn acquiesced right away. "My bets are on you and Sam. Is it on again?"

"Oh girl, don't get me started on this one." Mercedes sighed. "We went on a date the other night, we held hands but nothing more."

"Do you want it to be something more?" Santana asked cautiously, wrinkling her eyes. "I'm sure that Lips is all yours if you want him."

"I don't know. I'd say yes but we're not in high school anymore, it would be complicated. And complicated is the last thing I need right now. Man, with all those auditions coming up in the fall I won't even have time to breathe."

Rachel jolted at the word 'auditions'. "Here comes the primary matter. Kurt and I are stopping by NYADA _everyday_ this summer, just in case they have a role to be filled."

They all laughed at the young girl's eagerness, Rachel Berry would definitely never change.

"It's so great to see you guys again!" She continued in her excitement. "Let's make a toast!" The brunette added as they all raised their glass. "To friendship."

"To friendship."

* * *

Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer but I have so much trouble writing other characters than Quinn and Puck ^^ Anyways I hope it's not too bad and I'm gonna focus on Quicketh now :)

Next chapter: summer is over and they tell Beth everything! (finally, right?)


	12. We once believed

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

_"What then is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms. In short, a sum_

_of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically,_

_and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which_

_one has forgotten that is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power;_

_coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins." - F. Nietzsche_

"This place taken?"

Quinn's head followed the source of the voice - it was familiar, deep but so gentle. She closed her book and flashed a subtle smile when she saw Puck approaching on her right. They hadn't seen eachother or even talked since the argument, beside exactly three texts to plan their meeting on the steps of the New Haven court. She was glad to notice that he had kept his words about leaving LA, especially since she had found herself missing him over the summer.

"It's yours." She watched him sit on the step below hers, his arm almost touching her bare leg. "How was your summer?"

"Cool." Puck said, smiling at his feet. He seemed blooming, well, as much as you would expect Noah Puckerman to be.

Quinn's smile widened, her eyes were sparkling as she spoke with him. "That's all you have to say?"

"I learned _a lot_ of stuff, but I'm not sure it's what I wanna do after all." He shrugged. "You?"

"It was nice. I'm so ready for this year."

Her face was glowing and Puck couldn't help but smile as they glanced at eachother, almost as if they were meeting for the very first time. Quinn had cut her hair a little, so that it was falling perfectly on top of her shoulders. Puck absolutely loved it but didn't comment on it, he just kept smiling.

"Already at full speed from what I see." He nodded towards the book in her hands; those kinds of things tended to make him both content and desperate. Content because it meant that Quinn hadn't changed a bit, and truthfully he hoped she never would, but if it was true then he would never stand a chance with her.

The cover read _The Man Who Laughs, Victor Hugo_. Puck had no idea of who this guy was, he was just jealous that he got to have the young girl's attention. He also thought that the man was probably laughing because he was too chicken to tell Quinn how he really felt about her.

"That's the easy part." She chuckled and remained silent for a moment. "I think we should talk."

"Yeah..." Puck agreed. "I did hear what you said the other night. And I'm sorry, too. It wasn't fair, what I said to you and I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did, but you don't have to be sorry. You were right, it is my fault." Quinn wasn't mad at him. "But I need to know, do you honestly believe that we could have kept Beth?"

The young man was looking away. "Yes. But it's not what you wanted and I understand." He turned his head back at her to convince her of his honesty. "Really."

Quinn smiled, she believed him but it didn't wipe away the guilt. Her mind returned to where they were left now, what was done was done after all. "You know, I've read somewhere that sometimes people don't want to hear the truth, because they don't want their illusions destroyed." She was gazing at her fingers interlocking nervously. "Is that what we're doing? Turning her whole world upside down?"

"Maybe. But I'm glad to tell her."

The blonde put a hand on her forehead and felt a fresh breeze seep into her hair. "God, it seems so selfish."

"It's not." Puck's hand went to cover hers. "We are her parents, Quinn. She deserves to know." He waited for her to acquiesce and stood up. "Come on, let's go."

They went down the steps under a grey sky of early September and headed to New York, catching up a little on their way.

# # # # # # # # # #

"Be careful, it's super hot." Shelby warned Puck and Quinn as she handed them cups of coffee.

Beth immediately leant to take a look into Quinn's mug, her blond locks freely floating in the air. "Can I taste?"

"Maybe in a few years, ok?" Quinn answered.

Shelby laughed. "Ah, she tries everytime."

The little girl sat next to Puck on the couch, a bit disappointed. As Quinn and Shelby were small talking about things that he was barely interested in, Puck dunked his forefinger into his own coffee and discreetly placed it on his daughter's lips. Her green eyes grew wild, her tongue reached for Puck's fingertip and went around her lips to lick off all the coffee she could get. Puck was convinced that she loved it, and before pride has had the time to overwhelm him completely, he felt Quinn's foot kicking his ankle on the other side. He quietly laughed while Quinn was trying not to, Beth was still astonished that she had just broken the rules - which she loved but always avoided. This time it was not her fault.

Shelby stood up from her chair and sat on the living room table in front of them all. "Beth come here sweetie, we have to tell you something."

"Did you throw away all my toys?"

Shelby creased her eyes as she stretched her arms to take her. "What? No."

"Because I didn't put them back to their place." Beth assured her mother before settling down on her lap, not so much disturbed by what was going on.

Quinn on the other hand felt knots forming in her stomach. Seeing that she was getting edgy, Puck pressed his leg against and along hers so that she could feel his warmth through his jeans. Her eyes moved frenetically from Beth to Shelby, then back to Beth, not sure if she wanted to see her face when the words would come out.

"Honey," The older woman began. "you know how I told you that Quinn and Puck were my friends?"

Beth looked at them and quickly nodded.

"Well, it isn't exactly true. They are spending time with you because they are your real parents."

Done. The truth was out, the illusions destroyed. The little girl frowned her eyebrows and looked directly into Shelby's eyes.

"They are your mom and dad, and they gave you to me when you were born."

They were all surprised when Beth started giggling and put her hand over her face, it seemed silly to her. Puck slid his hand into his pocket, and got out two folded pictures. Quinn tilted her head when she saw what they were, she had no idea he had them, but Shelby had asked if they could bring tangible proofs. He handed the first one to Beth, where she was in Quinn's arms at the hospital.

"See, that's you!" Shelby exclaimed, pointing towards the baby.

Beth was still silent, holding the photo in her tiny hands, intently staring at it to try to find out what was going on. Puck and Quinn were apprehensively waiting for a response that took quite some time to come.

Shelby showed her the other picture, Mr Schuester had taken that one in McKinley hallways during the theatricality week. "And before that, you were in Quinn's tummy. Look."

Quinn bit her bottom lip unable to say anything when Beth focused on her now flat stomach. All she wanted was to hold her tight, tell her that everything would be ok and that she would always love her more than anything. She wanted her to understand.

Instead, Beth glided from Shelby's knees to the ground and threw the pictures. "You're not my mommy!" She yelled at Quinn before running away to her bedroom. Her tone was blunt and resolute, but she didn't seem that upset and no tears were shed.

The brunette gave Puck and Quinn a faint smile, obviously bothered by the situation, and went after Beth. Quinn buried her face in her hands and the young man rubbed her back soothingly.

"Well, that was clear." She announced.

Puck bent over to pick up the hallway picture on the floor, he smiled at the memory.

_"Puck, I already told you this morning. There's no way I'm going to let you name her Jackie Daniels, understood?"_

_He put his hands in the air. "Ok, ok, last offer, back off now. But I am gonna find you a name."_

_Quinn rolled her eyes as they kept walking towards their english classroom._

_"What!?" Puck continued. "Don't you want her to have a name, even if it's just for us?"_

_The blonde looked up to him and thought about it. He was right actually, but she never got the chance to tell him because Mr Schue appeared in front them. He was haunting the hallways, camera in hands, trying to find his glee club students to snap random pictures of them._

_"I'm going to make a scrapbook with all of you guys." He sounded excited._

_Puck didn't hesitate to put his hand on Quinn's swollen stomach. Usually she would have yelled at him for even thinking about it, but he took advantage of Mr Schue being there and it worked._

_"Smile... Perfect."_

"Remember?" Puck asked, showing her the photo. He was looking at her with his dopey smile and Quinn immediately felt better because of it.

She grinned. "Yeah."

"That day, you wanted to kill me. And we were stuck with Jackie Daniels. But then..." He bent one more time to grab the hospital picture. "Then everything was fine and Beth was there." He paused for a second. "Everything's gonna work out, you'll see."

Meanwhile in Beth's room, Shelby found her on the bed cuddling with her stuffed lamb. She didn't seem too shaken, just as if she was a little tired.

"Hi baby." The woman sat with her and put her arm around her. "I know it's a lot, but do you understand what we've just told you?"

Beth shook her head no.

"It's ok. All you need to remember is that we all love you very, very much. Quinn, Puck, and I. They just want to keep spending time with you, that's all. And you love being with them, right?"

The little girl stayed quiet.

"You want to know something?" Shelby asked. "Quinn gave you Loopy, I think it was hers when she was your age. And Puck, he's the one who chose your name when you were a baby."

They were both standing at the doorframe so Shelby left to leave the two them alone with Beth. They sat around her on the bed, not really knowing what to say. Somehow they would have preferred to be yelled at, they deserved it and maybe they'd be relieved, but Beth said nothing. The young adults looked at eachother, soundlessly fighting over who would speak first.

Quinn resolved into taking the lead. "Look, we're not trying to replace your mom here. She will always be your mom and nothing is going to change that."

"You have the right to be mad." Puck spoke out. "But don't you think it's kinda cool to have two mommies?"

Beth looked at Quinn, she didn't understand everything yet but she was now a bit reassured. "Are you gonna stop playing with me?" She pouted.

"No!" Quinn answered right away.

"Thank you for my lamb." The little girl mumbled.

Quinn took Beth against her chest and tightly wrapped her arms around her, a hand supporting her little head. "I love you." She breathed out against her hair.

"Hey don't forget me!" Puck said as he took both of the girls in his arms.

Their daughter laughed, or suffocated - one of those - under the weight of love. "Puck, sto-oh-op!"

He finally let go of them. "All right, monkey face."

Beth cutely rubbed her nose before protesting. "I'm not a monkey."

"You are _my_ monkey."

# # # # # # # # # #

The night was falling on their way home. They were both relieved that everything had turned out right in the end, even if they still had a few years struggle before them. At least for now everything was fine, they felt free and happier than they had been in a while.

Quinn broke the stillness when they crossed the Robert Kennedy bridge. "Do you feel different?"

"I guess. You?"

"No." She answered as she watched the lights of the city flash before her eyes in the distance, a Beatles song quietly playing on the radio. "Should I?"

Puck shrugged, still focused on the road. There was no right or wrong for that.

"So what is it like now?"

The young boy's lips pursed as he tried to find the right way to verbalize his feelings. "Like your birthday. You've had an awesome day, lots of presents and stuff, and it's only the beginning of your new year."

Quinn smiled. "That's nice. And what does this new year bring?"

"Love, happiness I hope. I suppose we'll have to wait to find out." Puck's hands tightened up a little stronger around the steering wheel. "There's something I haven't told you."

Quinn didn't know what to expect, with Puck it could be the best like the worst at any moment.

"I was just waiting to see how today would go." He explained. "I got an apartment here."

"That's great. There will be just a couple miles between you and Beth now."

"Oh no," The young man retorted. "not 'here' here. In New Haven."

Quinn's smile vanished. "What? Why?"

"So I can be closer to you." His eyes were focused on the road. "I figured that we're not spending that much time with her anyway. I mean, it's not like we're able to see her everyday. Aren't you happy?"

The blonde was speechless. "Y-Yes but... I will be pretty busy, too, you know."

"You don't think I'm gonna cling to you, do you?" Puck's tone took Quinn by surprise. "Nah, I'm gonna find a job. My mom only agreed to pay for the first two rents, so I have to."

"Good. It's going to work out then?" She asked.

"Only if you do your part, Fabray."

They arrived in Connecticut around nine and Puck pulled over on the campus, right around the dorm buildings to drop Quinn off. "Remember when you said that we were bonded for life?"

Quinn nodded.

"Well I'm glad it's with you." Puck confessed, causing her to look down at her knees. Then after a moment "Will you go to dinner with me?" He tried.

"Wait," Quinn chuckled. "is this a date proposal?"

"Maybe."

She slightly tapped his thigh before getting out of his truck. "You need to be more persuasive than that, Puckerman."

Challenge accepted.

_"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently_

_opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - A. Schopenhauer_

* * *

Hi :) I had fun writing this chapter so I hope you liked it and that it wasn't too unrealistic.

Next chapter... I don't really know. Maybe Puck and Quinn trying to fulfill their new parenting role? How does that sound?


	13. All I want is you

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

**DAY ONE:**

9 am was early, Quinn thought. At least for a sunday it was. It was the only morning of the week that she allowed herself to sleep in a little longer, on condition that she'd work harder for the rest of the day. For the first sunday of November, things went differently. She was woken up by the sound of something sliding under her door, she heard what seemed like paper brush her wooden floor. Curiosity made her jump out of bed to find a sort of folded flyer. The blonde opened it right away, struggling to keep her eyes open, and caught sight of a picture of an ancient building with the typed words:

_VIP invitation to visit my new place._

_Exclusively reserved to Miss Quinn Fabray._

_From: Noah Puckerman_

She smiled and laid back in bed, staring at the paper on her bedside table and wondering what his apartment looked like. Messy probably, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt on that - maybe he would clean up knowing that she was coming. She texted him to send her the address and slowly fell back to sleep.

She woke up four hours later, put on one of her favorite skirts and a bit of makeup and went to grab lunch with her friend from the floor above. Her name was Leah, they shared almost all of their classes and had bonded over drama during their freshman year. They weren't best friends or anything, but they did get along enough to study or go to parties together every now and then. Leah was in fact sort of a bitch and a rich daddy's girl; she was really nice to Quinn and their friends because she saw them as equals but that was about it.

Quinn spent the whole lunch thinking about Puck, they hadn't seen eachother so much because he was too busy moving in. He had forbidden her to see his apartment as long as it wasn't finished and she knew he had worked hard on it. Most of the rooms needed to be repainted and rejuvenated, and the plumbery wasn't quite working either. Once he was done with the basics, the young man had transferred some of his stuff back from Ohio and had also bought a whole load of new furniture.

"So have you finished your paper for Miller's class?" Leah asked. "Quinn?"

The blonde looked up from her plate where she was unconsciously rocking a bean with her fork. "Huh? Oh yeah, no I haven't, actually."

"What?! But it's due in like three days!"

"I know, thanks." Quinn replied, a little annoyed. The amount of work she had was astonishing and there she was, doing nothing of her day beside starting to stress out about pretty much everything. "I've got to go, I'll see you later."

Quinn went back to her room and tried to work on that paper; she was way too worn out to make her brain function correctly, but she had to finish it or she would fail a class and her life would be over. That's how things worked in Quinn's world, she couldn't allow herself to be any less than perfect at anything, otherwise it was a waste of her time.

Three long and painful hours later she was finally knocking on Puck's door, taking a genuinely needed break. The apartment was on the third floor and she hadn't met anyone on her way up. The corridor was dark, old and silent, making her wonder if she was at the right place until Puck finally opened.

"Oh god, it's spooky out there."

Puck laughed. "Hurry in, then."

Quinn complied, and to her delight the inside was much brighter and charming. She looked around the living room in awe, from the couch to the TV table - he had even bought a carpet. The kitchen was behind the living room, he had built a bar and put a green plant on it, which really surprised Quinn. Of course his guitar was on its stand in a corner, and there were quite a few windows as well, which made the all thing really pleasant and alive. It wasn't extremely spacious, but it wasn't tiny either.

"Puck, that's amazing."

"You haven't seen the best part yet."

He showed her the bathroom he had decorated with several shades of blue, including the tooth glass and the towels. Quinn was impressed by his application, she didn't exactly know what the place looked like before, but it sure was better now than what he had described. She followed him to the bedroom in which they could see the sun setting from the window, it was really simple but gorgeous at the same time. She was looking at the city through the glass; New Haven definitely appealed more to her from this angle.

"Quinn are you coming?" Puck was standing at the door. "I wanna show you one last thing."

"There's more?!"

"Of course there is. Ok so I never told you about this because I didn't want you to freak out and start yelling and everything..."

The young girl glared at him as he led her to another door.

"What? That's a thing you do." Puck defended himself. "Anyway, I thought the extra room could be useful."

He slowly turned the handle to reveal a smaller room that wasn't really furnished, aside from a single bed and a little desk in a corner. The walls were green and deep pink, it was girly but still felt fresh and classy.

Quinn didn't know what to say, she wasn't expecting this. At all. "Is this..."

"Yup. Beth's room." Puck smiled, proud of him. "You like it?"

"I do. It's beautiful, but... I don't think she's ever going to see it."

Puck looked at the room one last time and decided not to believe any of these words. He could see it all perfectly. Him and Beth building castles on the floor, Quinn singing lullabies to make her fall asleep; the images were more than clear to him. It was going to happen, he was sure of it.

"She will."

Once the tour was over, Quinn sat on the couch while Puck went to get them something to drink. She heard the fridge open behind her as she took a last look around the apartment and complimented him on his work.

"Here you go." Puck set a glass in front of her on the coffee table and handed her a small and pink bottle. "Strawberry juice, your favorite."

She looked at him suspiciously as he sat next to her. "How do you-" His eyebrows raised and she remembered. "Oh, right."

"If there's one thing I'll remember for the rest of my life it's having to wake up at 4 am to buy you a freakin juice."

Quinn laughed and put her hand over her face in embarrassment.

"And you were sleeping when I got back!" Puck continued before taking a sip from his beer, still amused by the story.

"I'm sorry I was a bitch to you."

"It's fine, _I did_ get you pregnant."

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes were getting heavier by the second and keeping them open was becoming a challenge.

"Are you ok?" The young man asked, concerned to see her this exhausted.

"Yeah, just tired. But it's better now."

"Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No, I'm good here." She felt safe with him and he made all of her problems go away just by being there; it was relieving and she felt home. After all they had been through together it was a chance but also a normality that they felt so comfortable with eachother. There was no ambiguity between them, they weren't afraid to speak their mind and be honest, and most of all they trusted eachother.

"Ok. Wanna watch some TV?"

Quinn moved her head from his shoulder to his lap and settled more cozily. She almost instantly fell asleep as Puck ran his fingers through her hair.

**DAY TWO: **

The next day, Puck and Quinn were to pick Beth up from preschool in the afternoon. They were waiting for her in the schoolyard, a bit uncomfortable as they stood amid a bunch of older people, clearly being the youngest of them all.

Quinn swiftly looked around her. "It's weird, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah."

She thought about how this was what her life would have been like if they had raised Beth, and she wasn't sure that she could have coped with the strange looks. They finally heard the bell ring, letting a small crowd of kids invade the yard. Beth was one of the last ones to pass through the doors and her eyes brightened as soon as she saw her parents waiting for her a few feet away. She hastily ran to them, her pink little backpack swaying behind her.

Puck bent to drop a peck on her sweet little cheek. "Hi, monster."

She had barely taken the time to return it that she was already jumping into Quinn's arms, who lifted her up from the ground before kissing her neck. Beth was holding on to Quinn tightly under Puck's fascinated look. He wondered how she managed to accomplish everything with such naturalness and how Beth was always a fond of her.

"How was your day?" Quinn asked as she set her back on the ground.

"We played tag!"

"Wow, that sounds nice."

Quickly, they saw a teacher walking up to them. She seemed young and nice, had ginger hair and her voice was a bit high. "I'm sorry, I don't know you. You are?"

Quinn held out her hand to introduce themselves, still pretty convinced that neither of them looked like kidnappers. "Hi, we're Beth's- We're supposed to pick her up today."

"Oh, right!" She almost yelled. "You're her mom's friends!"

Puck smiled foolishly. "That's us."

"I'm really sorry, she told me this morning." The teacher went on. She paused for a second to stare at Quinn, kind of examining her features. "It's funny, you really look like Beth."

Quinn's smile disappeared as they shared a long and awkward look before the red-headed finally realized what was going on. Her mouth suddenly opened and at first, nothing came out of it. "Oh, ok, well, you have a nice day."

They finally were able to make their way to the park, Puck carrying Beth's schoolbag and Quinn firmly holding her hand. The three of them sat in a sunny corner of grass and Beth instantly let herself fall on her back.

Quinn chuckled. "Are you tired?"

The little girl nodded, still immobile on the lawn.

"It's too bad..." Puck said, "because we brought you snacks."

"What snacks?"

"I guess you'll have to get up to find out." He teased.

Quinn got the plastic bag out of her purse and gave it to Puck who started to display everything. "You have... brownies, chocolate chip cookies, apple juice boxes, and also gummy bears."

"I think you forgot something." Quinn got out two more items from the bag. "Pear or banana, your call."

"No, you eat it Quinn." Beth stated as a matter-of-factly, not really into the idea.

"Yeah Quinn, _you_ eat it." Puck mocked. "Seriously, I told you not to take them."

"I just want her to stay healthy."

The little girl stared at her dubiously and creased her eyes. "What is it?"

"It means that it's good for you. It helps your legs, your brain, everything."

Beth quickly glanced at Puck, discreetly trying to get his approval, and finally decided to sit on Quinn who gave her the banana she had just peeled. She bit into it a couple of times under her parents' admiring eyes, and made sure that the both of them tasted it as well.

"You're gonna be _heathly _with me!" She explained. "Wait, are you gonna run faster than me now?"

"Nah, you're good." Puck shrugged.

The night was fast to come as winter approached, so they brought Beth home after a while. Then Puck drove Quinn back to Yale and as they said goodbye he remembered.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He opened the glovebox of his truck and handed her a homemade CD without any illustrations on it. "I made this for you."

She had already seen this in romantic movies, where the boy offers a mix-tape to the girl and everything, but it had never happened to her before. "Thanks." She smiled and despite the fact that she didn't quite know how to react, she seemed pretty comfortable and happy with it. "I'll make sure to listen to this."

"Awesome. Tell me what you think."

"I will."

She was out of his sight soon after, letting him return to his ordinary life. Until the next morning.

**DAY THREE:**

The night had been short for Quinn, it was only 9 am and she had been working on her paper for a while already when someone knocked at her door. Weirdly enough, she wasn't that surprised to see Puck standing there.

"Breakfast is served." He announced, presenting a recyclable Starbucks bag to her.

Quinn wanted to laugh, she had really no idea of what was happening there.

"What?!" Puck retorted, seeing her face almost bursting into laughter. "I can do nice things sometimes."

"I know. You should just warn me before you do, so that I can prepare myself to the idea."

The young man rolled his eyes, realizing that she had a point. "Alright, alright. Look, I've gotta go. I'll see you later, ok?"

"Wait," She stopped him. "Shelby called. She has a meeting tonight so I'm babysitting Beth, do you want to come?"

"Two days in a row, that's impressive." He marked. "But no, I've got job interviews today and I don't know when it's gonna end."

"Call me when you're done?"

"Yeah."

# # # # # # # # # #

Quinn looked up to the clock on the wall. "Well, I believe it's past your bedtime, missy." She announced.

"Oh no," Beth grumbled, "my drawing is not finished yet. I haven't done your dress."

"Fine, but after this one you go to bed, ok?"

She watched her meticulous little hands coloring the paper and already regretted telling her to go to bed. She kind of wanted to watch her forever but that, she figured, was sort of impossible.

The little girl stopped and looked up to Quinn, like something was bothering her. "Where do you work?" That was the missing part of her puzzle, she felt like she knew Quinn pretty well and yet she couldn't remember anything having to do with her occupation.

"I'm still in school."

"You're a teacher? Like my mom?"

Quinn chuckled, she loved that no matter how smart kids were there was always a moment when they failed to understand the simplest things. "No, I'm a student." But she could perfectly understand that it might be hard to conceive.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Beth asked, getting concerned.

"I'm not really sure... What about you?"

"I'm gonna build castles. And make pizzas."

Quinn's smile widened, if only life could be as easy for her. "That's interesting."

Beth nodded and returned to her drawing; it was almost done which annoyed Quinn who loved having conversations with her.

"It's for you." Beth announced as she started to write her name with a blue pencil.

"I love it."

After a few minutes, Quinn was finally able to put her to bed and went to sit on the couch. She came upon a documentary about time travels on the Discovery Science Channel, she thought it was relaxing without being completely stupid. She was pondering over what she would do if they actually found a way to travel in time, when she heard tiny footsteps approaching and saw blond curls appear from behind the couch. Quinn knew she wasn't supposed to allow Beth to leave her room but she just couldn't resist.

She muted the TV and tapped the fabric next to her. "Come here."

The little girl immediately climbed upon it and straddled Quinn so that their faces were just a few inches away, and she showed her the picture she had brought with her from her room. "Can you explain to me?"

"Y-yeah, of course."

"Why were you at the hospital? You had an accident?"

"Uhm, no." When she thought about it, _it was_ sort of an accident, but that conversation was for another day. "That's where babies are born."

"Where was my mom?" Beth asked.

"She wasn't your mom yet."

The little girl frowned as she tried to understand. "Cause I was in your belly?" Quinn acquiesced. "Then I was in hers?"

"No, then the doctors got you out and then your mom took you."

Beth's eyes widened. "She stole me?"

"No..." Quinn laughed.

Beth seemed perplexed as she kept staring intently at the picture. "And Puck?"

Quinn took a deep breath, she had no idea how to explain Puck's presence without giving away too many details. "Let's just say he helped me make you, so technically he's your dad."

"So what are you?"

"I'm-" She was about to say _birth mother_ or _biological mother_ or something like that but decided not to confuse her any more; she knew it was a lot and felt guilty enough for putting her through all of this mess. "whatever you want me to be."

Beth didn't know what that meant either, but at least the questions stopped. As tiredness overwhelmed her she rested her head on Quinn's chest, played with her hair for a while and fell asleep within the next minutes. Quinn was softly massaging her back under her pink pajamas as she kept looking at the soundless TV. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she was about to fall asleep in her turn when her phone started vibrating next to her. It was Puck. She quickly grabbed it, making sure it wouldn't wake Beth up.

"Hey-" She began in a murmur.

"Guess who got a job at Rudy's!"

"The restaurant?"

"Yeah! I'm their new waiter!" Puck shouted on the other side of the line. "Why- why are you whispering? Is Beth sleeping already?"

"She is. Right on top of me, actually." Quinn answered, still rubbing the little girl's back. "That's great, Puck. You're going to be able to stay here after all."

He laid on his bed, sticking his hand under his head. "I wasn't planning on leaving anyway."

"Good."

The next minute was spent in complete silence, Puck staring at his white ceiling and Quinn gazing at Beth. She looked very peaceful and comfortable, her head nestled below Quinn's chin.

Puck was the first to speak again. "Do you wanna have other kids someday?" He asked.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

Quinn sighed, she didn't really know why, it was just a feeling and honestly she had never really thought about it before. "I wouldn't be good at it, anyway."

"Right." They were both very different, but if they had to have one thing in common it would be their insecurity when it came to weighty matters. "Does it scare you?"

"Maybe." It wasn't something that she was comfortable talking about and she felt as if it was completely irrelevant anyways. She was only nineteen, had already been through hell with her first pregnancy and had a lot of goals to reach before even considering thinking about having children. "I listened to your tape, by the way." Quinn dropped the subject, still talking in a low voice. "_Songs that make me think of you_, really?" She joked, thinking about the note he had left inside the CD case.

"Yeah..." The young man let loose an embarrassed smile that she could perfectly hear in his voice. "Did you like it?"

"I did, it was nice."

"And...?"

"I have one, too. A song that makes me think of you."

Puck raised his eyebrows, it was more than he had expected. "Really?"

"Wonderwall."

"You're such a girl." He mocked.

"It was on the radio when I came home from the hospital." Quinn explained as her fingers intertwined with Beth's blonde locks, her palm gently brushing her scalp. "And I don't know, it's kind of accurate I suppose."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

**DAY FOUR:**

Quinn's phone screen lit up in the corner of her desk when she received a text from Puck by the end of her literature class. She unplugged her attention for a minute to read it, deeming that at this point it might not make a difference.

_Warning: I'm about to do something nice in a few minutes._

It made her smile inside and out that he had actually taken her at her words. She was wondering what he could possibly be planning this time when she was suddenly taken out of her reverie.

"That's it for today," The professor announced, "don't forget to leave your papers on my desk on your way out."

Quinn hastily stuffed all of her books into her bag and walked out of the classroom, yearning to finally breathe some fresh air. She wanted to collapse on her bed and sleep until the next day, but the thought of Puck doing something nice for her was even stronger than her exhaustion. She found him patiently waiting at her door, a purple and rectangular gift box in hands. Puck, who was leaning against the wall, moved as soon as he caught sight of her.

"What is this?" Quinn laughed.

"Just a little surprise."

He opened the package himself to reveal a beautiful cotton scarf, just like the ones she always wore. Quinn's smile grew wilder as she looked up to him, half laughing and trying to make sense out of it.

"Y'know, with winter coming I didn't want you to get cold. Do you like it?"

"Yes, of course I do." She said, touching the fabric with her fingertips.

"Hold on." Puck stuck the box under his arm and carefully wrapped the scarf around her neck. Then he slowly slid his fingers against her neck to release her hair before taking a last look at her. "There, perfect."

Quinn bit her bottom lip and let a demure "Thank you" escape her lips as she stared into his kind brown eyes. She abruptly drew away from the moment and offered him to come inside, which he politely declined by fear of being late for his first day at work. Quinn watched Puck run off the stairs and quickly walked into her room. She had barely taken her jacket off that her cell started ringing. She hurriedly picked up the phone she had at first thrown onto her bed, without even taking the time to check who was calling.

"Yeah?!" She panted.

"Hi, it's Shelby. Am I bothering you?"

"No, not at all. What's wrong?"

"Beth really wants to talk to you for some reason and I'm running out of ideas to distract her." The woman explained. "Would you mind saying a few words to her so that I can put her to bed for her nap?"

Quinn let loose a small laugh. "Yeah sure, no problem."

"Ok, thank you so much."

She couldn't give her everything, but she could do that. She was crazy tired but it didn't matter, talking to her daughter would definitely help. Shelby handed the phone to Beth who was sitting cross-legged on the kitchen table, wearing white underpants and undershirt for only clothes.

"Quinn?" She asked, obviously not used to talk on the phone. She had only done it a couple of times when Shelby's parents called, but she wasn't familiar enough with them to have real conversations.

"Hi baby. What's going on?"

It remained completely silent on the other end and it became pretty clear that Beth, indeed didn't have anything to say. All she wanted was to hear her voice, and now she didn't really need anything else.

"How was your day?" Quinn continued, trying to get a few words from her.

"I played in the park." The little girl finally replied.

"Nice. Was it fun?"

"Yes, we stayed all morning!"

Quinn smiled as she stared at the wind shaking the trees through her window. The leaves were falling one by one, winter was slowly setting in and yet she felt as if life was being breathed into her. She loved those moments when she could see Beth being perfectly happy without her. It was exactly what she had wanted in the first place, and she -for once- allowed herself to think that maybe she hadn't ruined her life. It was bittersweet though, but in the end she had no regrets as for the adoption.

"Quinn? Will you take me to the park one day?"

"Sure." That was so politely asked that the young girl's heart melted right away. Not every word was purely intelligible but the idea was there. "I don't know when I'm gonna see you again, though. I have to go home soon, maybe when I come back?"

"Yeah. Have to go, bye."

Quinn hadn't opened her mouth yet that she heard the line being cut. "I love you." She whispered as she stared at her phone and pressed the _end call_ button.

**DAY FIVE:**

Puck's fingers were burning from having held these two cups of coffee for almost half a mile, but he didn't care; he wanted to surprise her and stick to his plan. When he finally caught sight of her, his hands got much better all of sudden: she was walking next to another guy and the fire went straight from Puck's fingers to his veins.

The guy was tall and really classy, with perfect hair that waved under the wind; he looked like a model. But the worst part, Puck thought, was that he was actually making her laugh. Quinn flashed a smile when she saw him an instant later. Her friend strayed in another direction as she walked up to Puck in her light yellow skirt, genuinely happy to see him.

"Hey!" Her high pitched voice shouted.

"Who was that?"

"Oh that's Tom, we're together in political science. It's quite boring, you better have friends during that one." She joked. Then from one single look at Puck's features she knew exactly what was going on. "Are you jealous?"

"No."

Quinn's left eyebrow raised, her infamous search for truth. Was he jealous? Yes, absolutely. But he was also being protective. He loved her in this kind of way that he always needed to look out for her, make sure to keep her safe and happy. He shoved a cup of coffee into her hands, thinking it might kill the subject and bring them to another discussion.

"You're unbelievable." She announced as a disappointed smile won over her face.

"So it's my fault now? I'm trying my best here just so that you can end up with Mr Model?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I get it. I mean, he's probably super smart and rich and everything." Puck ranted.

"Or maybe it's all in your head and you need to back off." Quinn snapped. She, like most people, hated being told what to do. She was still the HBIC Quinn Fabray on the inside, she received orders from nobody and it certainly wasn't about to change. "You can't dictate how I live my life. And I'm not going to be your girl just because we had a kid together, you don't have a monopoly on me."

She was a bit shorter than him but still managed to make him feel like a little boy getting told off everytime she glared at him. Puck watched her turn around and leave without another word, afraid that he might have pissed her off for weeks.

**DAY SIX:**

"So Finn and I went to see After Midnight on Broadway last night," Rachel explained over the phone, "oh my god it was amazing, I'm sure you've heard of it? It's a great musical and you should definitely go see it asap."

Quinn was trying her best to listen, letting escape a little "Hmm." every now and then just to let her friend know that she was still there. She wasn't one of those girls to marvel at -nor even being interested in- people's love lives, but the good thing with Rachel was that you didn't really have to do any talking. Quinn took advantage of this time to clean her room a little since the conversation wasn't substantial enough to keep her completely focused.

"Anyways, then he took me for dinner and-" The brunette was still blabbering on the other end when Quinn's attention was drawn away by a subtle knock on her door, and she jumped on the opportunity to end the conversation.

"Look Rach, I've got to go. I'll call you later, ok?"

She hung up and went to open the door. To her surprise, no one was there. She looked around and noticed the empty corridor and a huge bouquet at her feet. There were several sorts of flowers, each one more colorful than the last, and amid them stood a little card.

_Sorry for being a jerk yesterday._

_Hope you like them, even though_

_they do not compare to your beauty._

_- NP_

**DAY SEVEN:**

"Oh god!" Quinn shouted as she took the last steps that separated her from Puck. "What have you done to your hair?" She laughed as she saw his head completely shaved.

"Beth told me I'd have a chance with you if I got rid of the mohawk."

Quinn chuckled. She liked his mohawk, but it sure was easier to take him seriously without it.

"You ready?" He continued. He was coming to pick her up because he had an ultimate surprise for her, and maybe she would finally agree to go on a date with him. The car ride wasn't very long, just enough for the sun to finally be set and for the night to make its entrance.

"Where are we?" Quinn wondered, a bit hesitant, as they entered an old bar. It was dark and they could hear the low sound of music playing from a small stage at the end of the room, but it absolutely wasn't a dirty setting. Quinn wasn't used to those kinds of place though, which forced Puck to grab her wrist and take the lead among a few other people.

"You'll see." He guided her toward a seat right next to the counter and made sure she was comfortable. "Wait for me, ok?"

And she did. She waited for him, listening to a piano guy covering hit 20 songs in more musical ways than the originals, until he finally showed up again. This time he was on the stage, guitar in hand, right in front of her in his cute plaid shirt. Quinn's mouth opened in surprise as he sat on a stool and adjusted the mic.

"I'll be playing Wonderwall tonight." Puck announced in a soft voice. "For a really special person."

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now,_

_And all the roads we have to walk are winding,_

_And all the lights that lead us there are blinding,_

_There are so many things that I would like to say to you but I don' t know how,_

_Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me,_

_And after all, you're my wonderwall._

He was looking right at her through the room as he sang those last words and he was satisfied with the look on her face. She was moved and smiled one of her gorgeous smiles. She didn't think it was possible for her to like this song even more, but Puck really had a way with music. He looked down at his feet, let his dopey smile appear on his lips and stared back at her.

"Quinn," he said full of hope, "will you go on a date with me?"

She couldn't care less about anything else right now. Puck made her feel wanted and it was exactly what she had always hoped for. His life was complete when he saw her acquiesce from afar, her eyes still sparkling from that old dream of hers finally coming true.

* * *

In memory of Cory Monteith, for each and every day he will spend away from his loved ones.


	14. Back to the start

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the show.

* * *

_"Now would you let me kiss you?"_

_"I guess it'd be kind of rude if I refused."_

_"You're Noah Puckerman, you got this."_

_Quinn's hand softly stroked his neck as their faces were getting closer. Her heart was pounding really hard against her chest and the attraction was stronger than ever. When their lips finally collided, Puck's hands had found their way on Quinn's thighs. He loved the taste of her strawberry Chapstick and he loved every contact between their bodies. Their lips were about to part when Puck felt her tongue slowly sliding into his mouth and asking for more. Quinn grasped his already open leather jacket and swiftly removed it so that it was no longer in the way. Puck's hands held on to her waist -so very close to her breasts- as hers were roaming his muscled body, never wanting to let him go. She had never been able to forget how good of a kisser Puck was, but even still, it surprised her everytime. _

_Quinn drew away for air after a while, and as their noses were still brushing and their breaths still blending, she quietly panted against his lips. "Come with me to New Haven."_

_Puck closed his eyes and bent his head, foreseeing the disappointment ahead. He knew it was impossible, that it wouldn't be good for neither of them but a part of him still wanted to say yes so badly. He wasn't ready to let her go, but after three years the time had finally come._

_"We could start over." Quinn continued. "You, me and a new city where nobody knows us."_

_Puck finally found the strength to look into her eyes; they were so beautiful and he had rarely seen them so full of hope. "No. You don't need me there. You have to live your life, Quinn. Without me."_

_The young girl wiped her tears away with the inside of her wrist. "It sucks." She let out, smiling despite her red eyes and stuffy nose. "Getting too attached to people and then go our separate ways."_

_"Yeah."_

_Quinn looked at him one more time and bit her lower lip as the thought of not seeing him everyday crossed her mind. Even if they didn't talk most of the time he was still there and that was what her life had become. They would never sit next to each other in the choir room again, she would never stare at him during his football practice again; it was the end of something special and letting go was harder than they had imagined._

_She moved closer to him, wrapped her arms tightly around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm gonna miss you." She whispered as one of her tears dropped on his shirt._

_"I'll miss you, too."_

Puck woke up early in the morning. The first thing he did was to look outside his window to the windy city he had come home to the night before. He was back in Lima for the holidays and it felt really good. The house was silent, his mother must have left for work and his sister for school already. There was absolutely nothing to disturb him and yet he couldn't manage to fall back to sleep.

He had one chance. One chance at conquering Quinn's heart and he wouldn't waste it this time. He wouldn't run away and be a coward; they were going to be together at last. But how? He had a date to plan. He had been the one asking her out and now he had to make sure that it would be good enough.

Puck hopped out of bed and slipped into grey sweatpants and a black shirt and headed to the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of orange juice, sat on the couch and pondered for a while. He had really no idea. He couldn't take Quinn to Breadstix, that was definitely not special, or romantic for that matter. He flipped through the TV channels for a while, completely absent-minded, until he finally settled for the morning cartoons.

A roadrunner always having the upper hand over a coyote, how dumb was that? Probably not as dumb as a guy who can't get a date ready, he guessed. But how was he supposed to know, he had never been on a date before. Never had to until this very moment. He needed advice. Puck pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed one of the exactly four numbers he had memorized.

# # # # # # # # # #

A couple of hours later, Puck was sitting on the steps of his porch when a car finally pulled over on the other side of the road, right in front of his house. He smiled when he saw his savior get out and cross the street to meet him. Finn Hudson, in a tie and checkered shirt covered by a dark zip hoodie in which he kept his hands safe from the grey and chilly Ohio weather.

"Hey, man." Finn said, smiling in his turn and taking Puck in his arms. "What's the emergency?" He joked, aware that his friend rarely asked for help.

Puck picked up an old and worn out football on the lawn, it had probably been there since high school. "Wanna play some ball?"

"Sure."

They both took their places along the lane and began throwing the ball to eachother.

"So are you gonna tell me or not?" Finn asked, longing for the answer.

"I asked Quinn out."

Finn caught the ball and froze for a moment before passing it again. "And she said no, right?"

"No." Puck frowned and shook his head, even his best friend had lost hope for him.

"She said yes? Seriously?" Finn chuckled. "What did you do to her?"

"Hey, stop being a douche, ok?" His throw was stronger than usual. He was a stud, how could anyone doubt that? "Fine, back to business. I don't really know how this date thing works, and you, my friend, are gonna help me."

"Ok..."

"It has to be perfect. And don't mention the word restaurant unless it involves something better."

Finn stuck the ball under his arm and looked around him for a moment. "What about a picnic?"

"Dude, it's almost december. Think better."

"I don't know, man. Quinn is a tough one."

"No kidding, how did you figure." Puck replied sarcastically. "Ok, time for lunch. You hungry?"

"Sure."

They drove to the nearest place that served burgers in town and sat at the counter while eating their meals, slowly catching up and talking strategy plans.

"Can I kiss her the first time?" Puck wondered, a bit lost in that area. "Like, do people do that?"

"You didn't ask that many questions when you _slept_ with her while I was dating her," Finn joked, "why do you care now?"

"I wanna do things right this time, I'm not screwing up again. So?"

Finn nodded, back to serious. He didn't know if Puck had really changed his ways but he wanted to believe it. "I don't know, it depends I guess. You can if you feel like it. Plus, you and Quinn have history, it's not like you don't know eachother."

"Hmm, I see." Puck said, pensive. He had to admit that he couldn't remember how many times he and Quinn had fooled around without even worrying about what it actually meant. "So Quinn told me you and Rachel are back together."

"We are." Finn answered kind of proud of them for trying to make things work.

"That's cool. I'm happy for you, guys."

Finn took a sip from his Coke as he listened to Puck's soft side finally emerge.

"But please stay away from crazy wedding ideas this time." This made the dark haired boy laugh quietly. "Dude, I'm serious."

"You got it."

They were on their way back to Puck's house when they passed Mc Kinley High School. They saw a few jocks in their red letterman jackets and an idea suddenly came across Puck's mind. His eyes lit up as he asked Finn to pull over.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"You'll see, come with me." Puck ordered as he jumped out of the car. He led Finn to the field where they used to play football back in the days and they both admired the view for a while, standing on the recently watered grass. They hadn't been there for quite some time now but this stadium was still home to the both of them.

"Nostalgia moment?" Finn asked, looking at his friend who was still in awe. "That's why you took me here?"

"Nah. I'm gonna bring Quinn here for a picnic."

"But... you were right earlier, it's winter, you're gonna freeze."

Puck looked at his friend defiantly. "Not if we're kitted out."

"Ok..." Finn was having a hard time following. Puck wanted something great for Quinn and then suggests a night in the cold? He really was trying to ruin this thing. "When is she coming back?"

"Next week. That gives me some time to perfect all of this."

_Yeah, you're gonna have to._ Finn thought. "I don't understand," he finally admitted, "why here?"

Puck smiled, looking down and letting every memory resurface. "Because that's where we first met."

# # # # # # # # # #

"Maaa'!" Puck yelled from the kitchen, taking a look in the oven. "Are those pastries ready yet?!" They needed to be, otherwise he would be late for the big night, and he knew how Quinn felt about lateness.

Mrs Puckerman walked into the kitchen, and deeming that their last batch was fully cooked, she put it with the rest into the picnic bag. They had spent a good part of the afternoon getting everything ready and now it finally was time to go.

"Alright," she announced, tightening her son's scarf around his neck, "have a good night, honey."

Once the young boy had put his jacket on, he softly dropped a kiss on his mother's cheek. "Thanks, mom. See you."

"And be nice, Noah." She shouted as he reached his truck in the driveway. Not that she had any doubts about that actually, she knew really well how much Quinn meant to him.

# # # # # # # # # #

"Will this be enough?" Quinn asked, pointing toward her tight black jeans and brown leather boots. Usually she would have gone for a dress to go on a date, but Puck had insisted that she needed to be winter-prepared.

"You might wanna add some layers..." He suggested.

"Ok..." She slipped into her warmest jacket and the scarf he had offered her a month earlier. "Are we good now?"

Puck, who was sitting on the armrest of the Fabrays' living room couch, raised his eyebrows and let his dopey smile appear on his pretty face. "More?" He replied, getting caught up in the game.

"Where the hell are we going!?"

"Somewhere special." He assured Quinn as she put on a red beanie and a pair of gloves. Puck took a last look at her, she looked amazing and he absolutely loved when she wore her hair a little wavy like that. "That will do, let's go."

In the car, Puck covered Quinn's eyes with a blindfold so that he could keep the surprise from her until the very last moment. When they arrived to the parking lot of McKinley, he opened the door for her and guided her toward the football field. There was absolutely no one around since the holidays had already started, and Puck had managed to convince Coach Beiste to give him the keys - she dug him so hard, he was sure of that.

Even though she couldn't see anything, Quinn felt familiar with the succession of turns, different types of ground and indoor/outdoor environments. She couldn't figure it out, but she definitely knew they were somewhere _very_ close to home. Puck positioned her on the sideline of the field, at the exact same place she was standing five years earlier, when he saw her for the first time during their first week of high school.

"Don't move, 'kay?" Then he ran to the spot he was standing at that day, about at the middle of the field. "All good, you can take it off now!" He shouted, loud enough for her to hear.

Quinn's hands reached for the blindfold that she eagerly pulled off her eyes, longing to find out what it was all about. Her head followed Puck's voice until her eyes finally met his. She smiled as her vision blended with her memories; he was still the handsome and sexy football player in her eyes, and he might have been number 20 many times on that field, but he had always been number one in her heart. The mohawk was gone, the jersey was gone, but nothing had changed. Not even once over the years.

She had dated Finn because he was really sweet and it was a great move for her status, she had dated Sam for pretty much the same reasons, but with Puck it was different. He made her heart race, her knees go weak and her head spin - in the greatest way possible.

She let a small laugh escape as she looked down and bit her bottom lip. When she finally looked up she saw Puck walking up to her, his hands in his pockets, breathing calmly into the cold december air.

"Do you remember?" He asked when he stopped only a few inches away from her. He already knew the answer, he could see it in her eyes still sparkling from the emotion.

Quinn nodded. "Everything."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. Puck returned the embrace, laying his hands on her back and pressing her tightly against his body. There was so many layers between them and yet it felt just as close as usual, perhaps even more. Words were stuck in between Quinn's lips, three little words especially, little but so meaningful. Only with them would have she been able to express what she felt in that moment, and she knew that Puck would die just to hear them from her and yet they wouldn't come out. So she held onto him a little tighter instead, hoping that he would read through her like he had so many times before and understand what it meant.

That was the thing about them, everything was and would always remain disordered. They got pregnant before even falling in love. They had kissed and fooled around more times than they would admit without even dating. They had lived together in the days that they hated eachother the most, and there they were, already crazy in love before their first date even began. Nothing came easy to them, but at least it was real. At least they knew exactly what they were stepping into, and there would be some days when they'd just want to throw everything out of the window, but it was way better than being apart. _That_ they couldn't deal with.

"Come on," Puck muttered, drawing back from the embrace, "I've prepared us an entirely home-made dinner." He announced really proud of him, taking Quinn's hand to lead her to the blanket he had previously spread on the grass. When they had both sat and settled comfortably, he lit up a candle in a glass on the side - one of his many attempts at being romantic. "One gust of wind and it's out." He joked. "Let's have a drink." He opened the picnic basket and pulled out a bottle of Champagne and two flutes that he carefully filled. "To us?"

They were staring right into eachother's eyes, never wanting it to end. "To us." Quinn answered before taking a sip. The Champagne fizzing on her tongue was the only thing keeping her feet on the ground, the only thing proving to her that it wasn't just a dream. "This is perfect." She finally admitted. "All of this. Thank you."

"A perfect date for a perfect girl." He replied with so much sincerity.

"Stop it. I'm not perfect."

"You are to me."

Puck really was a true charmer and always knew which words to pick. It made her feel amazing, without even knowing that none of it was a game. Puck truly thought she was perfect since he had first laid eyes on her and it was becoming more and more obvious each day.

"We should start eating before one of us gets cold." He suggested.

"Of course. Did you really make all of this by yourself?"

The young man saw an eyebrow raised at him, forcing him to reveal the truth. "My mom helped me out a little. I didn't want to poison you."

"Fair enough. What's this?"

"Tomato-basil pasta salad." Puck grabbed a fork that he plunged directly into the bowl, then carefully placed into Quinn's mouth.

"That's really great." She confessed after this first bite, still shaken from Puck's hand coming so close to her face. It was sensual, just like about everything Puck did around her and it made her want him real badly. She wished he was closer, maybe even touching her in some way and that scared her a little. She wasn't a needy girl, she didn't care about boys on a personal level, she knew better than that. It was only with Puck that she couldn't fight it, she wanted to devour him before the knots in her stomach kept her from breathing. "You did good, Puckerman." She finally resolved to say.

"I brought plates if you want to..."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind if you'd just keep doing that." Her voice was slow and calming, with an ounce of teasing on top.

Puck couldn't contain his enthusiasm as he kept using the same fork for the both of them. He moved closer and put her legs over his; this was pretty much the best way on earth to have dinner.

"Are you happy to be home?" He asked.

"Happier, yes."

"What do you mean?"

Quinn looked down at her lap, playing with her fingers for a distraction. "I don't know, just struggling to find my place I suppose. _Home_ hadn't really felt home for a while. And that might be changing, so it's better now."

"What exactly made it change?"

The blonde girl sighed, feelings certainly weren't the easiest field to play on for her. "I'm starting to realize that maybe home isn't somewhere, it's someone."

Puck was trying to figure out if she was talking about a specific someone or not, although everything about their position at the moment led to the same blatant answer.

Quinn's voice lowered and her face became much more vulnerable all of a sudden. "And right now," she said quite breathlessly, getting lost into his beautiful dark eyes, "I feel very much at home."

Puck pressed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her even closer, relishing every second that his lips got to touch her skin. Quinn closed her eyes as she was finally able to breathe again and let her hand settle on his thigh. Three little words. Stuck. Again. It would be so much easier if they could just come out when she needed them to, but reciting word-for-word her last history class sounded like a piece of cake in comparison.

Puck felt the warmth of Quinn's palm getting dangerously close to his inner thigh before realizing that she was way too carefree to even be aware of it. For a brief instant, the feeling reminded him of just how badly he wanted her the first time he had caught sight of her on that field. It had cost him a long year of convincing before his wish was finally granted, but none of that eased his lust. Once he had tasted intimacy with Quinn Fabray, there was no way back and he had ended up wanting her even more.

"So what did you think?" Quinn asked. "The first time you saw me here."

"That you were smoking hot." Puck replied without taking a second to think about it.

"How lovely." She answered making a face, trying to act like he wasn't paying her a compliment.

"Oh come on, tell me what you thought about _me_!?" He laughed. "And don't pretend it wasn't about my looks because I remember exactly the way you stared at me."

The blonde started laughing her quiet laugh, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

"So you _were_ checking me out!" He shouted. "I knew it! Damn. Well, I guess you liked it otherwise I wouldn't have ended up in your bed, right?"

"I have to say, your bad boy attitude really had a habit of turning me on..."

The young man arched an eyebrow as something in that statement really unsettled him. "_Had_?" He repeated.

"Or maybe still does. We'll see about that." She teased.

"So you actually liked me being a Lima loser, that's what you're saying?"

"That's because you never were one."

Puck loved that she believed in him that much. If it wasn't for her, he would have never graduated high school in the first place, but it didn't mean that she had unrealistic expectations of him. She knew exactly what were his strengths and weaknesses and pushed him to be better, which was something he was willing to do for her.

They peacefully finished dinner and both lay on the blanket, Quinn nestling in Puck's arm as they gazed at the stars that surrounded them. They were rocked by the quiet sound of their breathing until Quinn broke the silence. "Did you know there are actually more stars in the sky than grains of sand on Earth?"

"Really?"

"Hmm. Makes you think."

"Would you enlighten me with the depth of your thoughts, Ms Fabray?" Puck played along. He absolutely loved that she was so intellectual and he was really proud of her for that.

"You realize that perhaps it's what you don't see that really matters. These stars alone," Quinn gestured at the sky above them, "they're not much compared to all the sand in the world, but it doesn't mean they're not as strong. They do end up winning, because there's so much more that we don't perceive at first sight."

Puck wore a confuse expression on his face as she looked up to him. "To be honest Q, I'm not sure I'm following you right now."

"It simply means that you keep surprising me everyday."

Puck removed his arm from under Quinn's head before sitting up. An earnest expression won over his face as he looked directly into her gorgeous green eyes. "That's because you deserve it."

"Can I ask you something?" The blonde questioned as she sat up in her turn. One particular question had been eating her away for the past few months and as the point of no return was fast approaching, the need to know suddenly grew wider in her. "Why me? You could easily get any girl to fall in love with you, so why do you bother? I'm really bad at this relationship thing and I'm probably going to end up hurting you in some way and-"

Puck's thumb found its way on Quinn's precious lips, then softly and slowly slid all the way down across her chin, leaving butterflies soar in her stomach. "You remember that time we were watching TV in my apartment, I was playing with your hair and you fell asleep on my lap?"

Quinn nodded and smiled at the memory, it was a good one.

"When I try to picture myself five or ten years from now, that's exactly what I see. I don't care what it takes to get there, because I know that nothing will make me happier." Puck watched her eyes soften and felt her arm circle his torso and her hand settle on his back. "And you're incredibly beautiful tonight."

Quinn rested her forehead against his, their noses gently brushing and their mouths moving so very close, almost touching. Quinn's lips parted when her breath got too heavy, just before Puck cupped her face in his hand. Their lips finally met after a while, and a wave of heath travelled through Puck's entire body. It was only a matter of tiny seconds until their tongues began to tie, their mouths already completely blended, causing Quinn's back to slightly arch toward Puck. His mouth still tasted of the hot chocolate they had just drunk, making it even more difficult to let go of him. Puck's hand sultrily glided from Quinn's cheek to her neck, his finger tangling with her blonde strands on the way.

When the kiss finally came to an end, Quinn wrapped both of her arms tightly around his muscled body and snuggled her head in his neck. It wasn't long before Puck felt the warmth of her lips kissing his skin, right below his ear.

"I want you." Quinn almost whispered as she felt his head rest upon her shoulder in return.

"I want you too, Q."

* * *

Hello peeps! I really hope you enjoyed the reunion, I know I did. Next chapter I'll try to do something different and we'll get glimpses of their holidays in Lima. Also you can request anything and I'll see what I can do :)

Also n°2: Thank you to all of the new (and old!) followers, means a lot!


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